What is the cost of living in Wildwood-The Villages?

Wildwood-The Villages has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 85.4, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 51.7, which is below the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $1,328/month.

What is the median salary in Wildwood-The Villages?

The median salary in Wildwood-The Villages is $63,776 annually (mean: $68,432). Top occupations include Retail Salespersons, Waiters and Waitresses, Cashiers.

How safe is Wildwood-The Villages?

The violent crime rate in the Wildwood-The Villages area is 210 per 100,000 population (state-level data). Property crime rate is 1030 per 100K.

What are the schools like in Wildwood-The Villages?

The state of FL has 4,029 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 17.8:1. Charter schools make up 17.9% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in Wildwood-The Villages?

Infant center-based childcare in the Wildwood-The Villages area averages $10,505 per year. Preschool averages $7,983/year. These are state-level averages.

Is Wildwood-The Villages a good place to relocate?

Wildwood-The Villages has a Life Score of 66.5/100 (C+), based on 7 of 7 available dimensions among cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment (missing dims omitted, weights renormalized). This places Wildwood-The Villages in the top decile of scored metros, a genuinely strong all-around profile.

Where does Wildwood-The Villages sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, Wildwood-The Villages ranks #52 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/livability listing. See /methodology#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.

Relocation profile · Federal data

Wildwood-The Villages, FL

BEA RPP 85.4 ranks #10 of 387 scored metros for lower prices (cheaper third).

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

85.4
Cost index (US=100): $1,328
2BR rent / mo: $63,776
Median salary: 60.5
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Wildwood-The Villages ranks #52 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (60.5/100), with its strongest marks in cost of living and safety.

#52
of 387 US metros · Excellent: 23,372,215
metro-area population: 210
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 4,029
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: schools (12/100). Weigh every dimension against your own priorities, use the City Finder to re-rank by what matters to you.

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, EPA, NOAA, and FEMA inputs), Wildwood-The Villages ranks #52 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 85.4 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $1,328/mo, median salary $63,776; LiveAbility Score 60.5/100, strongest in cost of living and safety.

Signature: BEA RPP 85.4 ranks #10 of 387 scored metros for lower prices (cheaper third).

Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP 85.4 lands in the cheaper third of scored metros (cuts at 91.5 / 97.0). Median 2BR rent $1,328/mo.

LiveAbility 60.5/100 puts Wildwood-The Villages in the top third (#52 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the Wildwood-The Villages area is 34,870.

Wildwood-The Villages vs all US metros by LiveAbility Score

Where this metro's LiveAbility Score falls among every scored US metro (composite placement, not a desirability verdict)

61 Top 13% higher than 87% of 387 US metros

Metros banded by LiveAbility Score (0–100)

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainRelocate LiveAbility Score · June 2026

Wildwood-The Villages housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the Wildwood-The Villages MSA; housing RPP 51.7 (100 = national average); 2BR $1,328/mo.

Studio

$1,076

/month

1 Bedroom

$1,139

/month

2 Bedroom

$1,328

/month

3 Bedroom

$1,655

/month

4 Bedroom

$1,937

/month

Wildwood-The Villages wages and employment

Wildwood-The Villages posts 34,870 total employment with median salary $63,776 against a cheaper-than-average RPP.

Median Salary

$63,776

Mean Salary

$68,432

Total Employment

34,870

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Retail Salespersons	$34,290
Waiters and Waitresses	$36,340
Cashiers	$30,450
Correctional Officers and Jailers	$67,770
Registered Nurses	$77,110

Schools & Education

State-level education data for the Wildwood-The Villages area from NCES.

Schools

4,029

Enrollment

2,838,009

Student:Teacher

17.8:1

Title I %

Childcare Costs

State-average childcare costs for the Wildwood-The Villages area (DOL data).

Infant (Center)

$10,505

per year

Toddler (Center)

$8,611

per year

Preschool (Center)

$7,983

per year

Life Score Breakdown

Wildwood-The Villages's composite Life Score is 66.5/100 (C+), computed across 7 of 7 dimensions.

Cost

98/100

Elite

Wages

47/100

Average

Rent

48/100

Average

Crime

83/100

Elite

Schools

88/100

Elite

Childcare

46/100

Average

Environment

46/100

Average

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

Wildwood-The Villages ranks #52 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 60.5/100 - a composite of 7 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data (missing dims omitted; remaining weights renormalized). Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Cost of living (98/100)

Cost of living

98
Safety

83
Climate

74
Low hazard

54
Housing

48
Job market

47
Schools

12

What this shows Wildwood-The Villages's strongest dimensions are cost of living and safety; its weakest among scored dims is schools at 12/100. Default weights: cost 18%, jobs & housing 15% each, safety & schools 12%, air & hazard 10%, climate 8%; this metro uses 7 of 8 dims with renormalized weights.

Compare Wildwood-The Villages to

Pueblo Punta Gorda Racine-Mount Pleasant Raleigh-Cary Rapid City Reading

Metros near Wildwood-The Villages on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to Wildwood-The Villages on BEA RPP, LiveAbility, or BLS median salary, a different lens than the size-ranked list.

Similar cost of living (BEA RPP)

Similar LiveAbility score

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

Wildwood-The Villages cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; Wildwood-The Villages wages and LiveAbility inputs follow BLS OEWS plus the federal sources listed in methodology. This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Scores are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation. How this data is sourced.

Verify with BEA → · Verify with BLS → · Verify with HUD → · Verify with NOAA → · Verify with FEMA → · Verify with Census →

Thinking about Wildwood-The Villages?

Wildwood-The Villages runs a $63,776 median salary at a 85.4 cost index, ranking #52 of 387 nationally on LiveAbility.

See exactly what Wildwood-The Villages's pay and cost figures mean for your own budget. Salary calculator
Put Wildwood-The Villages head-to-head against another city on the same dimensions. Compare Wildwood-The Villages
Abilene is the closest related metro in this corpus -- see how it stacks up. Abilene profile
A cheaper cost index and a higher LiveAbility score don't always point the same direction -- here's how to weigh the trade-off. Cost vs quality guide

Cost, salary and score figures are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation.