Fort Myers, FL — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Florida·Fort Myers

Lee County · Cape Coral-Fort Myers · population 99,918

Bargain huntersGrowing fastRenter-friendly
Fort Myers, FL
Image: Wikipedia · Fort Myers, Florida
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
43
Cooling
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Fort Myers stands

18% off 5-year peak. home values down 9.4% in the last year. population growing 3.7% per year.

Median home $312,436
1-year -9.4%
5-yr CAGR +4.3%
vs 5-yr peak -18.1%
Population +3.7%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2023-09$312k$189k$258k$327k$397k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
40/100
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
$1,756/mo$0$1,054$2,109202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent12312880100120140202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 14.8
Buy

At a 14.8 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Fort Myers on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 14.8 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
7 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
61 · w22%
Distance from peak
26 · w18%
Population growth
90 · w16%
Rent YoY
29 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
57 · w10%
Long thesis

Fort Myers has held up across the cycle: home values at $312,436 with +4.3% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Fort Myers is down 9.4% 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 Fort Myers

Fort Myers is a city in Lee County, Florida, with an estimated population of 99,918. It anchors the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area. The population has grown 3.7% per year on average between 2020 and 2024 — among the faster-growing communities in the state. The median home value in Fort Myers is $312,436 as of 2026-04, down 9.4% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +4.3% annual growth, and the market currently sits about 18% below its 5-year peak. Rents in Fort Myers average $1,756 per month, down 3.2% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 43 of 100 (Cooling). Buyers may find more room to negotiate; sellers should price realistically.

▲ Bull case

●People are voting with their feet: population growing 3.7% per year since 2020 — that’s faster than ~80% of US cities.
○The data is the data: Fort Myers 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 9.4% in the last 12 months — buyer sentiment has flipped. Sellers competing on price.
●18% off recent peak — buyers are getting through-the-cycle pricing, not the peak.

About Fort Myers (Wikipedia)

Fort Myers is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the 25th-most populous city in Florida. Together with the larger and more residential city of Cape Coral, it anchors the Cape Coral–Fort Myers metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Lee County and has a population of 834,573 as of 2023.

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

City facts

Area49.04 sq mi
Elevation10 ft
Motto"City of Palms"
Density2168.44/sq mi

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

Playbook

Buyer

You have leverage. Negotiate price, ask for closing-cost credits, and don't waive inspection. Walk-away power is real in a Cooling market — use it.

Seller

Price aggressively (at or below recent sold comps) or be prepared to wait. Concessions — rate buydowns, closing costs, repair credits — are how deals close right now.

Investor

Cap rates are more attractive than they were 12 months ago but the appreciation tailwind is gone. Confirm tenant demand, vacancy rates, and exit liquidity before committing capital.

Local safety & alerts

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

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

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

Neighborhoods of Fort Myers

20 tracked · ranked by median home value
1Town & River$797,240+3.2%
2Verandah$552,263-9.3%
3Three Oaks$414,741-7.2%
4Punta Rassa$411,891-5.9%
5Gateway$397,821-6.4%
6Buckingham Park$383,844-7.5%
7San Carlos Park$341,089-5.8%
8The Forum$338,731-9.0%
9McGregor$332,352-11.3%
10Whiskey Creek$322,425-8.2%
11Mirror Lakes$310,510-6.6%
12Iona$305,905-9.4%
13Parker Lakes$285,741-11.2%
14Morse Shores$260,034-5.3%
15Fort Myers Shores$252,616-8.5%
16Harlem Heights$221,844-1.6%
17Villas$212,671-12.5%
18Cypress Lake$191,732-16.0%
19Tice$173,855-12.5%
20Pine Manor$164,861-17.0%

Cities like Fort Myers

Venice, FL42 · CoolingCape Coral, FL43 · CoolingCoconut Creek, FL43 · CoolingNorth Port, FL44 · Cooling

Run the numbers for Fort Myers

ToolCan I afford Fort Myers?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Fort Myers rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Fort Myers to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolFort Myers 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 Fort Myers 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 Cape Coral-Fort Myers 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.

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