What does it cost to live in Palm Coast?

I get this question all the time from people moving here: "What does it really cost to live in Palm Coast?" The short answer: less than a lot of Florida, and more than the sticker price. The house is the big number. Taxes, insurance, utilities and HOA fees decide what you actually pay each month.

Here's the whole picture, the way I'd walk a friend through it. Hard numbers first. Every one has a source at the bottom of the page.

What homes cost in Palm Coast

In the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026, the median single-family home in Palm Coast sold for $360,000, or $193 per square foot, across 3,116 recorded sales¹. That's 2% below the Flagler County median of $368,000. Most homes sold between $300,000 and $400,000.

Where you buy matters. The 32137 ZIP code (the east side, toward the Intracoastal and the beach) had a median of $410,000. The 32164 ZIP code (the south and west side) came in at $330,000¹.

The wider market is steady. In my September Market Update, the median sale price for Flagler and Volusia together held at $351,000, homes sold in 81 days on average, and sellers got 98% of asking². Prices held even with mortgage rates above 7%.

Your mortgage payment

On the week of October 29, 2026, the average 30-year fixed rate was 7.24%³. On a $360,000 home with 20% down, that's about $1,963 a month for principal and interest (my math, before taxes and insurance).

My Cool Tip from September still stands: get 3 lender quotes. Realtor.com found the best and worst rates borrowers got ran almost a full point apart². A few days of shopping can save you thousands.

Property taxes and the homestead exemption

For a home inside the City of Palm Coast, the 2025 tax rate adds up to 18.1746 mills⁴. That's the county, the school board, the city, the water management district, the inland navigation district and mosquito control together. One mill is $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value.

The big break is the homestead exemption, for the home you live in as your permanent home on January 1. It takes up to about $50,000 off your taxable value: the first $25,000 comes off all taxes, and a second amount (now adjusted for inflation, $26,411 for 2026) comes off everything except school taxes⁵. You file with the Flagler County Property Appraiser by March 1⁵⁷.

After that, Save Our Homes caps how much your assessed value can rise each year: 3% or the change in inflation, whichever is less⁶. Here's the catch for buyers. When a home sells, its assessed value resets to market value the next January 1⁶. Your tax bill will not be the seller's tax bill. Don't budget off the old one.

Rough math on a $360,000 home at the 2025 rates:

• With homestead: about $5,760 a year, or about $480 a month
• Without homestead (a second home or a rental): about $6,540 a year

That assumes the assessed value equals the price. Your real number comes from the Property Appraiser after you buy⁷.

One more thing: Amendment 3 is on the November 3, 2026 ballot. It would raise the homestead exemption from non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, and lower the yearly cap on non-homestead assessments from 10% to 5%. It needs 60% of the vote⁸. I'll update this article once the results are in.

Homeowners insurance

This is the number that surprises people most, and it's the one I can't give you from a table. Premiums swing a lot from one home to the next. The age of the roof, the wind mitigation features (roof shape, how the roof deck is attached, storm shutters or impact windows) and the year the home was built all move it. Florida law requires insurers to give discounts for wind-resistant features, and they're documented on a wind mitigation inspection⁹.

For a sense of scale, the most recent national comparison (2022 data) put Florida's average homeowners premium at $2,677 a year, the highest of any state¹⁰. Your quote could be well above or below that.

My advice is simple: get a quote before you make an offer, not after. Ask the seller for the wind mitigation report and the roof age up front.

Flood insurance

First, look up the flood zone for the address on FEMA's flood map¹¹. If you're in a high-risk zone with a mortgage, flood insurance is required.

What does it run? An analysis of FEMA data put the average flood policy in Flagler County at $786 a year¹². Homes outside the high-risk zones usually cost much less than homes inside them.

If you end up with Citizens Property Insurance, know this: Citizens is phasing in a flood insurance requirement for policies that cover wind. Starting January 1, 2027, it applies to all of them, in or out of a flood zone (condo unit and renter policies are exempt)¹³.

Utilities

• Electric: FPL serves Palm Coast¹⁴. FPL's typical residential bill for 1,000 kWh is $136.64 a month in 2026¹⁵. Summer months with the A/C running will be higher.
• Water and sewer: Palm Coast Utility raised rates 5.1% on October 1, 2026. Water is a $27.24 base charge plus $7.38 per 1,000 gallons for the first 5,000. Sewer is $26.76 plus $6.93 per 1,000 gallons¹⁶.
• Stormwater and garbage: $38.33 a month for stormwater and $35.60 a month for garbage and recycling¹⁶.

Add it up at 5,000 gallons of water and it's about $200 a month for city services, plus your FPL bill. Internet, cable and cell phone are on top of that and depend on the plan you pick.

HOA fees (or none at all)

Palm Coast gives you a real choice here. Some homes have no HOA at all. Others sit in planned communities with dues, and some newer communities add a CDD (a community development district), which shows up on your tax bill.

In the new-home communities I track in Palm Coast, HOA dues ran from $0 to about $390 a month, and where there's a CDD it added roughly $1,600 to $2,700 a year (October 2026)¹⁷. Always ask for the HOA and CDD numbers in writing before you sign.

How Palm Coast compares

U.S. News gives Palm Coast a Value Index of 7.5 out of 10, meaning a lower cost of living than similarly sized metro areas when you compare housing costs to median household income¹⁸. U.S. News also ranks Palm Coast #35 in its Best Places to Live in Florida for 2026-2027¹⁸.

The Census numbers tell the same story. In Palm Coast, the median monthly cost for homeowners with a mortgage was $1,687, and $597 for those without one. The median rent was $1,782 a month (2020–2024 survey)¹⁹.

Palm Coast, I love because it's a mini America. People are relocating from everywhere here, and it's vibrant and it's new.

Putting it together

For a typical $360,000 Palm Coast home with 20% down, a homestead and no HOA, the monthly bill looks something like this before insurance:

That's roughly $2,780 a month before insurance. Every home is different, so use this as a starting point, not a promise. When you find a house you like, I'll help you get the real numbers on that address.