Moving to
Palm Valley.

All Palm Valley data Compare Palm Valley

19,796people live here $116,625median household income▲ 44% above US $1,856median rent per month▲ 31% above US $690,800median home value▲ 108% above US

Palm Valley is an unincorporated community in St. Johns County, FL. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Palm Valley

Palm Valley is an unincorporated community in Florida with household incomes running above the national average, a highly educated workforce, and schools with class sizes near the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Palm Valley deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, a population that has been shrinking, and a rent burden that leaves many renters stretched thin.

The good

Higher-than-average incomes
Highly educated workforce
Average class sizes

The not so good

Rent well above the national average
High home prices
Shrinking population
High rent burden for renters
Above-average rainfall

How Palm Valley compares

Median household income

Palm Valley$116,625

Florida avg$74,568

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Palm Valley$1,856

Florida avg$1,669

US$1,413

Median home value

Palm Valley$690,800

Florida avg$359,000

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Palm Valley

Based on Palm Valley's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$3,712

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $74,240 a year
62% of Palm Valley renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$138,160

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $69,080
Homes cost 5.9× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 31% above US

$1,856/mo median rent

Rent runs on the higher side, at $1,856 a month median. Whether that premium makes sense usually comes down to the local job market and what it pays. Home prices are steep, with a median around $690,800. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $690,800 · 62% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.0% county unemployment

Unemployment in St. Johns County is 4.0%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

St. Johns County (county-wide)

Safety

76 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Palm Valley doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 430/100k · Policed by St. Johns County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

24 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 24.1 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 7 in 10 workers drive to work; 25% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

69%

Work from home

25%

Carpool

3.3%

Walk

1.6%

Other

1.4%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 88°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 51°F. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▲ 97% above US

71% bachelor's degree or higher

This is a highly educated city, with over half the adult population holding a college degree. That tends to shape the job market and the broader culture, and it's a solid indicator of a strong professional scene.

Schools

3 public schools inside the boundary

There are 3 public schools inside the boundary and 3 private schools. The student-to-teacher ratio is 17:1, close to the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Castillo de San Marcos National Monument (20 miles away). There are 5 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Palm Valley's strongest points are household incomes running above the national average and a highly educated workforce; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($1,856/mo) equals 19% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (25% of workers here already work from home) and college-educated professionals. It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget.

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