Making a move to a new area can be daunting and raises a lot of questions. What are the housing costs? How much does it cost to live in Paradise? With the Atlantic Ocean as our eastern border and the Intracoastal Waterways running through Brevard County…you would think it’s an expensive place to call home. In this post, we are taking a deep dive into the cost of living in Brevard County Florida.
The biggest cost to consider will be housing and what will it cost to either purchase or rent. Since Brevard County has 14 cities/towns, I am focusing on the larger areas. They are all single family homes with 3 to 4 bedrooms & 2 to 3 bathrooms. 1200SqFt to 2800SqFt The sales information is the last 12 months (9/2022-8/2023)
Titusville $92K to $775K with a median price of $320K
Cocoa $116K to $1.450M with a median price of $347K
Merritt Island $115K to $1.584M with a median price of $480K
Rockledge $155K to $995K with a median price of $357K
Viera/Suntree $247K to $1.123M with a median price of $495K
Melbourne $140K to $1.4M with a median price of $345K
West Melbourne $116K to $812K with a median price of $415K
Palm Bay $110K to $1.325M with a median price of $340K
Beach-Side $250K to $2.9M with a median price of $640K
Here are the rent ranges for the same areas
Titusville $1495 to $3000 with a median price $2000
Cocoa $1400 to $4000 with a median price $2000
Merritt Island $1850 to $4000 with a median price $2500
Rockledge $1600 to $2900 with a median price $2200
Viera/Suntree $1995 to $4600 with a median price $2700
Melbourne $650 to $3500 with a median price $2200
West Melbourne $1800-$3900 with a median price $2400
Palm Bay $1415 to $3400 with a median price $2000
Beach-Side $2100 to $8900 with a median price $3300
Property Taxes for the county range from a millage rate of 10.3687 to a millage rate of 20.7782. This is the proposed range for 2023 that should be finalized in October. To see what the actual rates are, please visit https://www.bcpao.us/TaxRoll.aspx?t=3.1 The millage rate is for every $1000 of value, so a home with a taxable value of $350,000; you can expect your taxes to be between $3,629 to $7,272. I am certain you would like that a little more specific. Just know that if your property is inside city limits you will pay a higher millage rate than those outside the city limits. The very low millage rates are in the remote areas of the county. The Brevard Property Appraiser’s site also offers a tax estimator for any potential property you are considering. Brevard County offers a Homestead Exemption if the home you purchase will be your primary residence. Depending on the taxable value of the property, you can be eligible for up to a $50,000 exemption from the taxable value on the property. Saving you between $518 to $1,038 per year. Besides that as a benefit, the homestead exemption also caps how much the value can go up in a year. This is why you will see the taxes on a home that has been homesteaded for 20+ years have an exceptionally low tax bill compared to someone who just purchased their home.
Utilities. We do not have a variety of options for utilities in Brevard County. Florida Power and Light is our only choice for electricity. Florida City Gas is the only option for natural gas. The Cable provider is Spectrum. Water depends on your location in Brevard County. We use the city of Cocoa for water and our monthly bill is around $100 per month.
Our FPL bill is somewhere between $70-$200 depending on the time of year. We are averaging $135 per month. Electric bills vary depending on the size of your house, how well insulated the property is, how many people are living in the home, and what temperature you keep the thermostat. It’s just my wife & I in 1300 SqFt home.
Natural Gas depends on what you use and how much of your home is hooked up to the gas line (water heater, dryer, stove/oven, BBQ grill, heater, pool heater, etc). The Florida City Gas website has a rate of 0.67667 per thermal unit plus $18.00.
Cable is hard to say what your monthly bill will end up being. Spectrum will offer a discount rate if you are a new customer. They also have a different rate if you bundle services too. It also depends on what extras you order…DVR, basic channels, phone, internet, mobile…it looks like basic cable is about $60 per month. Other options for TV can be found from your mobile providers (AT&T, Verizon, etc)
Internet providers. Spectrum probably has the fastest internet speeds offering Gig speeds for $90 month. Basic internet is $50 per month. Just like cell phone providers had offers for TV, cell phone providers also have options for internet.
Cell phone companies. We have a lot of choices including the big 3 (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile/Sprint) plus all the others (Mint, Cricket, etc). Most of the county has decent cell phone coverage. The * is south Cocoa Beach, south Merritt Island, remote sections of Palm Bay, and near Patrick Space Force Base (crossing Pineda Causeway sometimes causes issues)
Transportation-Gas prices are usually 8 to 10 cents per gallon cheaper in Brevard County versus the State average. The State Average is usually 20 to 30 cents per gallon cheaper than the national average. Beach-side gas prices are usually higher by a few cents per gallon than the mainland. The average price in Brevard County is $3.48 gallon right now (September 2023)
Toll roads are pretty common throughout the state of Florida. Brevard County does not have any toll roads at this time. I recommend getting either a SunPass or EZ Pass transponder for your vehicle to make it easier to go through the tolls that are between here and Orlando. You also pay less on the tolls if you have a transponder/prepaid account set up. The transponder can be free or up to $18.50 and you will need to link a credit card to the account for it to work/pay for the tolls.
Bus system. We do have a bus system that covers a lot of Brevard County. It is $1.50 per ride. You can buy bulk passes. They also offer monthly passes for $42 per month.
Groceries. We have several Grocery store options throughout the County. Publix, Winn-Dixie, Aldi’s, WalMart, Target, & Dollar General. Rumor has it that a Whole Foods is being planned in East Viera. We also have the Membership/Club type stores (Sams, BJ’s, and Costco) Since I shop at Publix for the most part, here are some prices from a recent shopping trip to let you know what some of the staple items cost:
Sour Dough Bread from the Bakery $4.85 loaf
Large Eggs $2.25 dozen
Milk $4.79 Gallon
Bananas $0.70 per pound
Ground Chuck $4.49 LB on sale (regularly $6.39 LB)
Bone-In Ribeye $16.99 LB
Child Care Costs. Since we do not have children, this was a little tougher to find information on. I did call a few places and prices started between $800 to $1000 per child per month during the school year and went up depending on how late in the day they were in the facilities. The site https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/12009 estimates $9,098 per child per year.
Entertainment. We have a lot of options in Brevard County for entertainment. Movies, plays, concerts, bowling, golf, tennis, pickleball, etc. All the water sports including fishing. Beautiful parks and over 70 miles of beaches to enjoy. Most of the parks are free to enter. Some of the beaches offer free parking. Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach, and sections of Indialantic are metered/pay to park with an option to buy an annual parking pass.
Movies are $12 to $15 per ticket (depending on times and theater)
Titusville Historic Playhouse, Cocoa Village Historic Playhouse, and the Henegar Center in Historic Downtown Melbourne have performances throughout the year. Tickets are in the $30-$40 range depending on the show and day of the week.
The Maxwell King Center in Melbourne offers a variety of shows, plays and entertainment. I have seen Jerry Seinfeld, Creed, and Spamalot here. They have an active calendar of shows throughout the year with a variety of price points (it really depends on the act)
We have an amazing zoo in the North Melbourne/Viera area. The Brevard Zoo features over 900 animals from around the world. My favorite is the Giraffe where the viewing platform puts you at eye level with them. If you purchase your tickets online, it is $32 for adults, $20 for children 3-11, and kids under 3 are free.
Kennedy Space Center is a great place to explore if you are into the Space Race and the history of our Space Program. One Day passes are $75 for adults and $65 for children.
Keep in mind that Orlando and all of the major theme parks are about an hour away. Expect to pay $120 (+/-) to get into a park. They do offer Florida residence discounts.
Orlando is home to two pro sports; basketball, The Magic, and soccer, the Lions. Cheap seats can be found $20 ticket and of course, go all the up from there.
Keep in mind that Florida does not have a state income tax. Our sales tax in Brevard County is 7%. They do not charge a sales tax on most grocery items, prescription drugs, and over the counter medication.
Brevard County is certainly not the most expensive to live nor is it the cheapest. Considering we have the intracoastal running through the county and our eastern boundary is the Atlantic Ocean…This is a great place to call home. Questions on an upcoming move? Simply call/text Eric Larkin with Real Broker, LLC 321-795-1854 or drop a comment below.
Eric Larkin is a Broker Associate with Real Broker, LLC. He lives, works, and plays in the Cocoa Beach area. If you have questions about moving or relocating to Cocoa Beach and the Space Coast, let me know! I get calls, texts, direct messages & comments on my posts every day about the real estate market and things that are happening in Cocoa Beach and the Space Coast that I love answering. Ask me your questions on moving, relocating here, or anything about the community. I am here to help. I have been helping buyers and sellers with their real estate needs since becoming a real estate agent in 2003. My focus is always on helping, answering your questions, and doing everything possible to make certain you have a smooth transaction from beginning to end.
Planning a move or have questions about our area? Eric Larkin with Real Broker, LLC can help! Schedule a call here https://www.ericlarkin.com/schedule-a-call
OR leave your info here and I will call you https://www.ericlarkin.com/contact-form
Cocoa Beach Insider 