Thinking of Moving to Fort Myers or Naples?
Discover what living in SW Florida is like.
If you're thinking about moving to the Fort Myers or Naples area and in the process of researching various locations around the state, you're in the right place. This page has been assembled to help you gain a better understanding of SW Florida, what Fort Myers and Naples offers residents in terms of lifestyle, amenities, employment and healthcare. We also encourage you to reach out to Jenna Scharf, our Fort Myers & Naples relocation expert as she is glad to answer any questions you may have about the area, including the real estate market, housing prices and annual living costs.About SW Florida
The Fort Myers area is one of the fastest growing areas in the entire state. With a population of just under 96,000, Fort Myers is home to top-rated beaches, a thriving business environment, local museums and attractions, as well as an active events and social scene. With an average temperature of 74 degrees year-round and 271 sunny days each year, Fort Myers offers its full-time residents an outdoor playground to enjoy activities such as kayaking, stand-up paddle-boarding, golf, boating and fishing.Experience Fort Myers, some of our local attractions as well as the beauty of nearby Captiva and Sanibel Islands. Make sure your volume is on.
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
Naples Ranks as the #1 "Best Place to Retire" in the U.S. (2025) - US News & World ReportNaples Named the #1 "Best Place to Live" in Florida (2025) - US News & World ReportFort Myers Ranks as #1 Fastest-Growing Place in the U.S. - US News & World Report
Top 10 Reasons to Relocate to Fort Myers & Naples
- Fort Myers is the Fastest-Growing Place in the U.S.
According to a recent study performed by U.S. News & World Report, Fort Myers was recently ranked as the #1 fastest-growing place in the entire U.S. for 2024 - 2025. This study analyzed net migration to respective meto areas over the past five years. View the fastest-growing places ranking list. - Naples & Fort Myers are "Best Places" to Live in Florida
The Naples and Fort Myers areas have long been popular retirement destinations on Florida's west coast, but they are also some of the "Best Places" to live in the sunshine state. Recently, Naples and Fort Myers were ranked as the #1 and #5 Best Places to live in Florida by US News & World Report for 2025. Rankings are based upon an analysis of public data as well as user opinions. View the Best Places to Live in 2025 list.
# City, State Average Home Price Average Age 1 Naples, FL $585,137 66.9 2 Sarasota, FL $447,812 49.8 3 Pensacola, FL $260,309 39.1 4 Tampa, FL $375,010 35.5 5 Fort Myers, FL $353,983 40.6 Average Home Prices as of Nov 1, 2024 - 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 November 2024, the median home price in Fort Myers is $353,983 whereas the median home price in Naples is over 200K more at $585,137 which makes Fort Myers a great value by comparison. For exact housing prices and a list of available homes matching your criteria, contact Jenna Scharf, our Fort Myers and Naples relocation expert listed on this page. - 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. - 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 3.7%, well below the national average of 4.1% (Nov 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. - 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. - 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! - 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! - 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. - 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.
Fort Myers Beach View
Sanibel Beach View
Jenna Scharf
Realtor®Your Fort Myers & Naples Relocation Expert
239-222-8104
Please mention Moving to Florida Guide when calling so I can track my marketing efforts. Thanks!
License # SL3339999
The Fort Myers & Naples Real Estate Market
Market outlook, trends and relocation advice by Jenna Scharf.
We have continued demand for housing here in the Fort Myers/Naples area as many are fleeing the Midwest, New York, and New Jersey for better weather and lifestyle. Our housing inventory in early October of 2024 is now back to a nearly balanced level of 5.4 months as sellers are beginning to list their homes once again, which is giving buyers more options. At the same time though, we are also seeing where buyer demand has decreased a bit as some buyers are more challenged, or hesitant, to purchase with the now higher interest rates, even though they have pulled back a bit from their recent peak.
Fort Myers / Naples Market Outlook
My outlook for the Fort Myers and SW Florida housing market for latter 2024 and early 2025 is that demand will continue to remain fairly strong as our seasonal snowbirds and vacationers will soon return for the winter and spring months, as they typically do. Even though we’re experiencing a slight pullback in buyer activity, we still have a decent number cash buyers already living here in Southwest Florida that want their own piece of paradise, in addition to those relocating here, albeit at a slower pace than we saw previously with the lower rates.Market Trends I'm Observing
Based upon current economic conditions, I am now seeing whereby most homes are sitting on the market for roughly 45 days before selling, which means better negotiating power for buyers. I'm also seeing more buyers asking for money towards their closing costs. This money can then be used to buy down their interest rate if they like, either permanently or with a temporary buy down.My Relocation Advice
The biggest piece of advice that I can give buyers is if you're thinking of buying, don't wait! If you're financing, be pre-approved and ready to go. Know how much money you'll need to put down and talk to your agent about strategic ways to make your offer more appealing to sellers. Also, keep in mind that having a mortgage is simply having a set housing cost, unlike renting, which is subject to market conditions and continues to rise each year. Marry the house, date the rate. Buyers can always refinance down the road if/when interest rates begin to fall.Fort Myers & Naples Relocation Reviews:
Read what Jenna's past clients are saying.
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"Jenna was fantastic in our search for the perfect home. We were shopping from our home in NJ and she cleared her weekend and had several listing lined up for us to look at once we got to Florida. She was flexible and we revised our search as the weekend progressed - she was able to line up new properties for us to view. At the end of the weekend we found our perfect home."
Scot E.
Home Buyer -
"Jenna was great as she spent an entire weekend helping us find a home. We flew down from Wisconsin and by the end of our 3 days together Jenna helped us buy a home. Through the whole process with us in Wisconsin, Jenna was our eyes and ears made our purchase as stress free as she could us being 1500 miles away. She was great im so glad we got to work with such a great young lady. Thanks Jenna!"
Bob B.
Home Buyer -
"My wife and I would highly recommend Jenna Scharf. We were searching for a winter home in Fort Myers and we were several states away. When we narrowed our search, we flew down and Jenna took us to several homes. She was amazing and incredible crafting our offer and making it happen fast. We could not have done this without her!"
Past Client
Home Buyer
View All Fort Myers & Naples Relocation Reviews
