Daytona Beach, FL — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Florida·Daytona Beach

Volusia County · Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach · population 86,015

First-time buyersGrowing fast
Daytona Beach, FL
Image: Wikipedia · Daytona Beach, Florida
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
53
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Daytona Beach stands

Home values down 5.5% in the last year. population growing 4.3% per year.

Median home $250,012
1-year -5.5%
5-yr CAGR +4.1%
vs 5-yr peak -12.7%
Population +4.3%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2022-12$250k$119k$179k$238k$298k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
30/100
Very car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
30/100
Minimal transit
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
93/100
Excellent for remote work
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$1,545/mo$1,096$1,375$1,654202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent122133100120140202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 13.5
Buy

At a 13.5 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Daytona Beach on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 13.5 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
23 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
60 · w22%
Distance from peak
37 · w18%
Population growth
90 · w16%
Rent YoY
51 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
74 · w10%
Long thesis

Daytona Beach has held up across the cycle: home values at $250,012 with +4.1% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Daytona Beach is down 5.5% over the last 12 months and the trend isn't flattening. Falling knife rule applies: you don't catch one with your hands, you wait for it to hit the floor and stop moving.

About Daytona Beach

Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, with an estimated population of 86,015. It anchors the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach metro area. The population has grown 4.3% per year on average between 2020 and 2024 — among the faster-growing communities in the state. The median home value in Daytona Beach is $250,012 as of 2026-04, down 5.5% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +4.1% annual growth, and the market currently sits about 13% below its 5-year peak. Rents in Daytona Beach average $1,545 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+0.9%). The composite momentum score is 53 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●People are voting with their feet: population growing 4.3% per year since 2020 — that’s faster than ~80% of US cities.
○The data is the data: Daytona Beach has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 2-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

●Prices actively falling: down 5.5% in the last 12 months — buyer sentiment has flipped. Sellers competing on price.
●13% off recent peak — buyers are getting through-the-cycle pricing, not the peak.

About Daytona Beach (Wikipedia)

Daytona Beach is a coastal resort city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the East Coast of the United States, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropolitan area, and is a principal city of the Fun Coast region of Florida.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

City facts

MayorDerrick Henry (D)
Area68.19 sq mi
Elevation13 ft
Founded1870
Density1107.54/sq mi

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Volusia County right now.

NWS active alerts (FL)Florida Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Volusia County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Cities like Daytona Beach

North Port, FL44 · CoolingSt. Cloud, FL60 · StableWinter Haven, FL59 · StablePalm Bay, FL59 · Stable

Run the numbers for Daytona Beach

ToolCan I afford Daytona Beach?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Daytona Beach rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Daytona Beach to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolDaytona Beach cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
70° / 51°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
90° / 73°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
233
~64% of year
Annual precip
54″ rain
0″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very high
Tornado
Moderate
Wildfire
Low
Earthquake
Very low
Flood
Very high

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Daytona Beach listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
76%
Very humid climate
Median household income
$67,900
Florida state median
Top industries (state-level)
TourismHealthcareConstruction

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

Cities similar to Daytona Beach

Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.

See all Florida cities →    Browse best-of lists →