Is Merritt Island, Florida the Right Place to Live?
If you are relocating to the Space Coast and trying to figure out where to live, Merritt Island deserves a serious look. It tends to fly under the radar compared to Cocoa Beach or Viera, but it should be on your list.
Surprisingly, Merritt Island is not actually a city. It is an unincorporated community in Brevard County. What that means for you practically is that there is no city tax on top of your county tax. You get the location without the extra layer of local government. If Merritt Island were a city, it would be the 4th largest city in Brevard County.
Geographically, Merritt Island sits between the Indian River to the west and the Banana River to the east. Kennedy Space Center is at the north end of the island. The beaches are just across the Banana River to the east. You are genuinely in the middle of everything on the Space Coast, and for a lot of people relocating here, that is exactly what they are looking for.
Getting Around: Commutes from Merritt Island
Let’s talk about getting around, because location is everything when you are making a relocation decision.
If you are working at Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island might be the most logical place to live in all of Brevard. SR 3, also known as Courtenay Parkway, runs right up the middle of the island and takes you straight to the main gate. For a lot of KSC employees, the commute is 15-20 minutes, depending on where you are on the island.
If you are working at one of the aerospace or government contractor companies near the Melbourne Airport, the 520 or the Pineda Causeway/404 are your friends. You are looking at roughly 30-45 minutes, depending on where exactly you are headed.
Patrick Space Force Base is also very accessible. The 404/Pineda Causeway connects Merritt Island directly to Patrick. You can even connect to A1A for Patrick. Most of the island is within 30 minutes.
The Cape Canaveral Space Force Station access point is near the Port, and you will either use A1A or 528.
One thing to know before you commit to living on Merritt Island, you are on an island. That means bridges. SR 528, SR 520, and the Pineda Causeway are your main connectors to the mainland and to the beaches. Most locals figure out pretty quickly which routes to avoid during rush hour and plan accordingly. It becomes second nature fast.
The Merritt Island Lifestyle
Now let’s talk about what it is actually like to live here.
Merritt Island has a laid back, outdoor lifestyle that is hard to match anywhere else on the Space Coast. You are surrounded by water on both sides, the Indian River to the west and the Banana River to the east. Sykes Creek runs right up the middle of the island, giving you even more access to the water. That means fishing, kayaking, paddleboarding, and boating are basically part of your daily routine if you want them to be. The Banana River is one of the better spots in Brevard for spotting dolphins and manatees, especially in the cooler months.
The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge covers a huge portion of the north end of the island. If you are into birding, hiking, or just being outside, it is an incredible resource right in your backyard. Not many places where you can watch a rocket launch and then go kayaking in a wildlife refuge on the same day. If you do like hiking and exploring large natural parks, the Ulumay Wildlife Sanctuary, located in central Merritt Island, is worth checking out, and Pine Island offers the same kind of experience — quiet, natural, and right there when you need to decompress.
You are close to the beach without being on the beach. Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral are just across the Banana River — a short drive over the 528 or 520. Close enough to enjoy it whenever you want, but you are not dealing with the tourist traffic and the congestion that comes with living directly on A1A. If you are living at the south end of Merritt Island, the 404/Pineda will connect you to Satellite Beach, and Mathers Bridge will connect you to Indian Harbour Beach.
For day to day living, you have shopping and restaurants along the SR 520 and Courtenay Parkway corridors. It is not a downtown scene like Cocoa Village, Melbourne, or Cocoa Beach, but everything you need is accessible without a long drive.
What’s Coming to Merritt Island
The area is getting a major upgrade. A brand new hospital is being built on SR 520, right across from the Merritt Island Mall, with an expected completion in 2027. That kind of anchor development tends to attract new businesses to the surrounding area, and we are already starting to see that happen. The hope is that it also brings some much needed attention to the Merritt Island Mall and the retail corridor along 520. It has been a long time coming.
Merritt Island Housing Market
Let’s talk about housing, because this is probably what brought you here in the first place.
Merritt Island has a wide variety of homes to choose from. The bulk of the housing stock was built from the 1960s through the 1990s. These are established neighborhoods with mature trees, larger lots, and more square footage for the money compared to newer construction communities like Viera or West Melbourne. If you are OK with an older home, Merritt Island can be a really good value.
Right now, there are 159 active listings on Merritt Island, ranging from $150K to $7M. Looking at the last 12 months of sales, 592 homes closed — the median sales price was $500,000, and the average was $574,000. The price range for sold homes ran from $80K to $3M. About 23% of buyers paid at or above the asking price, and the average list to sale ratio was 96.4%. The average days on market was 68 days. If you are buying, there is room to negotiate, but the well-priced homes are still moving. It is also worth noting that 191 of those 592 sales included seller concessions toward closing costs, with an average of $9,546. That is something buyers should absolutely be asking about when making an offer.
Search what is currently on the market in Merritt Island https://www.ericlarkin.com/merritt-island
If waterfront is on your wish list, Merritt Island delivers. Out of those 592 sales, 176 were waterfront properties, canal front, river front, or Banana River frontage. That is nearly 30% of all sales. If you have a boat or are thinking about getting one, this is a serious consideration. True riverfront and Banana River properties come at a premium, but canal access is more attainable than you might expect.
Condos are limited on Merritt Island compared to Cocoa Beach. If a condo is what you are looking for, Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral will have more options.
New construction does exist on Merritt Island; 43 new construction homes have been sold in the last 12 months. Most of the new construction is north of the Barge Canal. But it is not a major new construction market the way Viera or Palm Bay are. The island is largely built out. If new construction is a top priority, those communities will give you more to choose from.
HOAs on Merritt Island are hit or miss. Some neighborhoods have them; many do not. If you have a boat, an RV, or other toys and need a place to park them, a no-HOA property gives you a lot more flexibility. If an HOA is a dealbreaker for you in either direction, that is an easy filter to apply when we start looking at properties together.
What You Need to Know Before You Decide
There are a couple of things I want to be straight with you about before you make a decision on Merritt Island. This is the kind of stuff I would want to know if I were moving here.
Merritt Island is in the mandatory evacuation zone. All of Merritt Island falls east of US 1, which means if a significant hurricane is approaching and authorities call for mandatory evacuation, you are being asked to leave. This does not happen every year, and it does not happen with every storm. But it is part of life on the island, and you should go in with eyes open. The good news is that most residents get very good at reading the forecasts, knowing when to take them seriously, and having a plan ready to go.
Flood zones are also worth paying attention to. Not every property on Merritt Island is in a high risk flood zone; there are plenty of properties in flood zone X where flood insurance is not required for a mortgage. But there are also properties in flood zones A, AE, and VE where it is. For any property you are seriously considering, we will pull the FEMA flood map and know exactly what you are dealing with before you go too far down the road. No surprises.
Both of these factors will have an impact on your insurance costs. Florida property insurance has been a story of its own over the last several years. It is not something to gloss over in your budget planning. When we talk numbers on a specific property, insurance is always part of that conversation.
None of this is meant to scare you off. Almost 35,000 people live on Merritt Island and love it. It just means going in informed, which is always the better way to buy a home anywhere.
Is Merritt Island Right for You?
So is Merritt Island the right fit for you?
If you are working at KSC, Patrick, or one of the aerospace companies on the Space Coast, the location alone makes it worth a serious look. Add in the waterfront lifestyle, the wildlife, the access to the beach without living on top of it, and a housing market that still has room to negotiate — it checks a lot of boxes for a lot of people.
It is not for everyone. If you want new construction, a walkable downtown, or a no-evacuation-zone address, other parts of Brevard make more sense. But if you want to live on an island surrounded by water, watch rocket launches from your backyard, and be within 30 minutes of just about everything on the Space Coast, Merritt Island is hard to beat.
If you have questions about a specific neighborhood, what your budget gets you on the island right now, or just want to talk through whether Merritt Island makes sense for your situation, I am here to help. Drop a comment below, give me a call, or grab a time on my calendar, and let’s figure it out together.
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.
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