SW Florida Awards & Accolades

The Fort Myers and Naples areas commonly receive awards and accolades for its top-rated beaches, strong business climate, quality healthcare and overall high-quality of life. Below are recent mentions per year.

• 2024

  Fort Myers & Naples Rank as TOP 10 Fastest-Growing Places in the U.S. – US News & World Report 
  Babcock Ranch Ranks as the #3 Best-Selling Community in Florida for 2023 – RCL & Co.

• 2023

  Naples Named the #1 “Safest Place to Live” in the Country – US News & World Report

• 2022
  Naples / Immokalee / Marco Island Region Named as the #1 Emerging Housing Market Nationwide – Wall Street Journal
•  

Top 10 Reasons to Relocate to Fort Myers & Naples

1. Fort Myers & Naples are Fast-Growing Places in the U.S.
   

   According to a recent study performed by U.S. News & World Report, Fort Myers and Naples were ranked as the #3 and #9 fastest-growing places in the U.S. for 2024. This study analyzed net migration to a respective meto area over the past five years. View the fastest-growing places ranking list.

2. Fort Myers & Naples are Very Safe Places to Live
   

   The Naples and Fort Myers areas have long been popular retirement destinations on Florida’s west coast, but they are also very safe places to live. Recently, Naples and Fort Myers were recently ranked as the #1 and #3 safest cities to live in the country by US News & World Report for 2023 – 2024. These rankings are based upon crime reports per 100,000 people of U.S. metro areas. View the safest U.S. cities rankings list.

   

3. Fort Myers Real Estate Offers Good Value
   

   Both Fort Myers and Naples have gorgeous waterfront property, top-selling master-planned residential communities (Babcock Ranch in Fort Myers and Ave Maria in Naples) and high-rise condos with breathtaking views of the Gulf and natural Florida. The biggest difference between the two communities is the affordability of the real estate. At the start of April 2024, the median home price in Fort Myers is $373,650 whereas the median home price in Naples is over 200K more at $611,759 which makes Fort Myers a great value by comparison. For exact housing prices and a list of available homes matching your criteria, contact Laura Reynolds, our Fort Myers and Naples relocation expert listed on this page.

4. SW Florida is the Ideal Outdoor Year-Round Playground
   

   SW Florida is the perfect destination for outdoor enthusiasts with an average temperature of 74 degrees year-round and 271 sunny days each year. If you enjoy a great workout in the Florida sunshine, try kayaking or stand-up paddle boarding through natural mangroves and experience Florida wild birds and abundant sea life. There’s also lots of waterways, local islands and sand bars to explore by boat. Lastly, if you prefer to improve your golf game, SW Florida has lots of popular community golf courses to check out.

5. SW Florida Has a Strong Economy & Job Market
   

   The SW Florida employment and job market has been very strong post pandemic with a current unemployment at only 3.3 percent in 2024. The top industries in the region include hospitality and tourism, healthcare, education, trades, retail and professional services. The biggest and largest employers in Lee and Collier counties include Lee Health System, county school districts, local city governments, Publix Supermarkets, Anthrex, ACI worldwide and ASG Technologies.

6. Top-Rated Fort Myers & Captiva Island Beaches
   

   The beaches of SW Florida are among some of most beautiful and most popular in our state and are commonly top-ranked by TripAdvisor, USA Today and other ranking pulications. Fort Myers Beach, lined with its waterfront restaurants and open-air bars, is a popular beach attraction for many. Sanibel, and nearby Captiva Island to the north, are home to some of the best beaches in the world for shelling. Shelling is the art of locating, observing and collecting sea shells. Fort Myers Beach | Sanibel Beach.

7. SW Florida Offers Great Dining Options
   

   The SW Florida area offers a full array of casual outdoor eateries to elegant, five-star restaurants. There are also many new, trendy craft breweries and beer gardens to visit. These locations offer a very casual environment, are typically pet-friendly and many even offer daily live entertainment. Downtown Fort Myers, Cape Coral (near the bridge), Fort Myers Beach and downtown Naples are some of these trendy places to check out!

8. Fort Myers & Naples Have Endless Events to Check Out
   

   SW Florida offers its residents an active scene of year-round events, great musical performances and outdoor festivals to check out. In addition, there are also many popular community events that take place each year including Artfest Fort Myers, The Southwest Florida Music Festival, Crafts on the River, The Craft Beer & Music Festival, The Fort Myers Beach Pirate Fest, The Naples National Art Festival, Baconfest Naples, The Everglades Seafood Festival and many more!

9. SW Florida Offers Top-Rated Healthcare
   

   When moving to SW Florida, it’s important to know that you have quality healthcare available to you for both emergency and preventative care. The top-rated hospitals in Lee and Collier Counties respectively are NCH Healthcare System and Lee Memorial Hospital. Both commonly rank as best hospitals in the state of Florida each year.

10. Fort Myers is a Great Small City to Start a Business
    
    With a growing population, Fort Myers makes a great small city to start a new business. In 2022, WalletHub ranked Fort Myers as the #5 best small city in the US (out of 1,300 small-sized cities) to start a business based upon 18 important factors including average growth, number of small businesses already in the area, investor access as well as the cost of local labor. View the best small cities to start a business rankings list.