Living here
Cost of living in Gainesville
Housing is cheaper than the US average. Rents, home prices, taxes and how far a paycheck goes.
Median rent
$1,214/mo
10% below US
Median home value
$235,000
23% below US
Median household income
$45,611
42% below US
Rent as share of income
32%
US 21%
Home price to income
5.2×
US 3.9×
Sales tax
7.5%
Rent by number of bedrooms
HUD 2027 fair market rents for Gainesville, FL HUD Metro FMR Area (gross rent including utilities, near the 40th percentile of local rents). Source: HUD USER.
How Gainesville compares
- Gainesville$1,214
- Florida$1,564
- United States$1,348
- Daytona Beach$1,239
- Orlando$1,650
- Tallahassee$1,238
- Palm Bay$1,487
- Fort Myers$1,442
- Delray Beach$1,914
- Pembroke Pines$1,910
- Hialeah$1,558
- Gainesville$235,000
- Florida$325,000
- United States$303,400
- Daytona Beach$244,300
- Orlando$359,000
- Tallahassee$276,000
- Palm Bay$248,000
- Fort Myers$351,600
- Delray Beach$386,700
- Pembroke Pines$411,700
- Hialeah$359,200
Taxes
Questions
Is Gainesville expensive to live in?
Housing in Gainesville is cheaper than the national average: median rent is $1,214 (10% below US) and the median home value is $235,000 (23% below US).
How much is rent in Gainesville?
The median gross rent is $1,214 a month. HUD’s 2027 fair market rents for the area are studio $1,197, 1 bedroom $1,241, 2 bedrooms $1,471, 3 bedrooms $1,806, 4 bedrooms $1,933.
How much of their income do renters spend in Gainesville?
At the median, a year’s rent ($14,568) equals about 32% of the median household income ($45,611); nationally it’s about 21%.
What are taxes like in Gainesville?
Sales tax is 7.5% and property taxes run about 0.96% of home value a year.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-year estimates; HUD fair market rents; Florida Department of Revenue - Discretionary Sales Surtax Information for Calendar Year 2026 (DR-15DSS, R. 11/25).