Are you thinking of moving to Florida and are stuck between Jacksonville and St. Augustine? This video is going to cover everything you need to know in regards to living in Jacksonville as well as living in St. Augustine. We are going to Compare and Contrast some of the main details you want to know! Population, home price data, schools, taxes, employment, sports, entertainment, crime will all be covered. If you are moving to St. Augustine Florida or moving to Jacksonville Florida; This video is for you!
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/jacksonvillecityflorida/PST045221
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/staugustinecityflorida?
Taxes
http://taxcalc.coj.net/
https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=960&LayerID=21179&PageTypeID=2&PageID=9403
Schools
https://edudata.fldoe.org/
Crime
http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/
Population –
Jacksonville – 950k
St Augustine – 15k; St Johns County 300k
I should note that Jacksonville is the largest city by land mass in the United States. It takes up the majority of Duval County.
Home Price Data –
The median Sale Price for a home In Duval County (Jacksonville) is going to be $330,000. Compare that with St Johns County with a median Sale Price of $440,000.
I should note that there is no inventory available in both markets; which is why you are seeing such a steep price change month over month. My main market is in St. Augustine and I am not feeling the “Slow Down” that a lot of agents are seeing nationwide. I was just talking to an agent this morning that was working on an offer for a home in Riverside (neighborhood in Jacksonville). He lost the offer and his buyer went 100k over and waived the appraisal. If I am comparing the two; Jacksonville is a more competitive market. This may be because of the larger availability in the 200k-400k range than St. Augustine.
Schools – Duval County School District & St Johns County School District
The one thing to know about Florida in general is that schools are ranked by Letter Grade; A,B,C,D,F. So if you are using a 3rd party website that ranks schools by numbers, it is more than likely inaccurate.
Now I know you have heard me go on and on about St Johns County being the Number 1 School District in the State. Unfortunately this past year we lost that spot and are now number 2; Still rated as an “A” school district and St. Johns County graduation rate is at 95%.
Duval County has made some amazing strides these past couple years. They were 1 percentage point from being an “A” rated school district this year. Their final rating came in as a high “B”. Since 2016 they have raised their graduation rate from 80% to 89.6%; pretty amazing stuff in 5 years.
Taxes – You are going to save money on taxes in St. Johns County. Both Sales Tax and Property Tax are going to be higher in Duval County.
The sales tax for Duval County is 7.5% while in St Johns County it is 6.5%. For every $100 you spend in Duval you save a $1 in St Johns. I should note that St. Johns County has talked about raising their sales tax so it is an even 7%, a .5% increase
Both St. Johns County and Duval County have a property tax calculator available on the property appraiser website. These are great tools to estimate what your property tax could look like when you purchase a home.
Buying a $400,000 in Duval County you should expect to pay $7,000.00 compared with St Johns County $5,263
Employment – There are going to be more Job Opportunities in Jacksonville then in St. Augustine by far!
Jacksonville is a large logistics hub, growing tech sector and a large military base. Because of the ports in Jacksonville and the convenient Geographic Location within NE FL, Jacksonville is a main hub for transporting goods on the East Coast. You have 95 running N/S and I-10 running E/W.
The Main employers in Jacksonville are going to be the Navy, Duval County Public Schools, City of Jacksonville (Admin) and Baptist Health.
St Augustine and St Johns County is a suburb of Jacksonville. St Augustine has its own Tourist industry and the largest employment opportunities are going to be in the Hospitality Field.
The main employers in St Johns County are St Johns County School District, Flagler Health+, St Johns County Public Administration, Northrop Grumman, and the National Guard.
Sports –
Whether it is professional sports, or something more local. There is plenty to do in Jacksonville. Jacksonville is home to the Jacksonville Jaguars; which in reality havent been good since their first year. They have had some glimmers of hope but it is very similar to being a Mets fan. Disappointing.
Maybe Football isnt your thing and you are more of a Golfer.
Aside from that they do also have Triple A baseball. The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. As well as Hockey. Jacksonville Icemen which is apart of the ECHL.
St Johns County doesnt have any professional sports teams. Though in Ponte Vedra Beach they have The Players Championship at Sawgrass. So if you like Golf you can check out some of the sports biggest names. From pretty much anywhere in St Johns County you are probably about an hour from most of the sports arenas available in Jacksonville.
Entertainment –
Jacksonville is home to some beautiful beaches, Topgolf, Autonbahn, Timucaun Preserve, the Jacksonville Zoo, Dailys Place, The Florida Theater, Food and Dining
St Johns County is going to have beautiful beaches, History, Architecture, great food and dining, St Augustine Amphitheater, tours.
Crime – When comparing St Johns County to Duval County; St Johns County is going to have significantly less crime. Duval County is going to have 3,888 crimes per 100,000 people while St Johns County is going to have 1,187 crimes per 100,000 people. That is a 69% difference in the amount of crime in the 2 counties.
