22 Florida beach towns you can actually afford to live in

Whats the point of living in Florida if you're not close to the water? Living seaside usually means forking out a lot of dough, but some beach towns are cheaper than others. Financial website SmartAsset, releases an annual rundown of the nation's most affordable beach towns, and this year quite a few Florida spots made the cut. Here are the most affordable beach towns in Florida at the moment.

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Pensacola

Median Home Value: $165,700
The westernmost city on the Florida panhandle, Pensacola, is known for its gorgeous Gulf of Mexico beaches and historic Spanish and British forts in its downtown area. Its median monthly housing cost is $932 and its average room per house is 6.4. Fans of NASCAR will love Five Flags Speedway, which holds the December annual Snowball Derby.

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Vero Beach

Median Home Value: $256,300
Vero Beach is a small Florida city, with Atlantic-facing beaches on a barrier island across the Indian River Lagoon. South Beach Park is downtown and is a popular attraction for tourists and residents alike. The median monthly housing cost in Vero Beach is $909 and its median annual property tax amount is $2,031.

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Tarpon Springs

Median Home Value: $195,800
Tarpon Springs is a city on central Florida’s Gulf Coast. Greek eateries line waterfront Dodecanese Boulevard, a legacy of the Greek sponge divers who settled in the city in the early 1900s is evident in everything from the food to the architecture. The median monthly housing cost in Tarpon Springs is $928 and its median annual property tax amount is $1,843.

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St. Augustine

Median Home Value: $260,800
St. Augustine is a city on the northeast coast of Florida that is one of the oldest cities in the United States. It is known for its Spanish colonial architecture as well as Atlantic Ocean beaches like St. Augustine Beach and Crescent Beach. The median monthly housing cost in St. Augustine is $1,013 and its median annual property tax amount is $2,167.

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Sarasota

Median Home Value: $239,600
Sarasota is a city south of Tampa on Florida’s Gulf Coast that is known for the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and Siesta Key Beach, rated the No. 1 beach in the United States by TripAdvisor. The median monthly housing cost in Sarasota is $1,067 and its median annual property tax amount is $1,873.

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