Your Florida Keys Moving Guide

If you dream of the tropical island lifestyle, surrounded by jewel-blue waters, palm trees, and coconuts, one where the real world feels miles away, living in the Florida Keys might be right for you. This chain of islands stretching hundreds of miles from South Florida to Key West has dozens of islands for you to call home.

Before you lift anchor and head southbound, there are some things you should know about living in the Florida Keys. It’s a unique part of Florida, and has its own quirks. This moving guide will help you get familiar with the lifestyle, cost of living, real estate market, and unique culture.

Understanding the Florida Keys

The Florida Keys are a chain of limestone and coral islands located off the southern coast of Florida. They reach approximately 125 miles from Key Largo in the northeast to Key West in the southwest. By some estimates, there are 1,700 islands in the Keys if you extend them all the way to the Dry Tortugas. The majority are accessible only by boat.

A series of 42 bridges on the Overseas Highway links the various populated islands, which are divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower keys. Some of the bigger islands are their own regions, like Marathon or Islamorada.

A brief overview of the principal Florida Keys:

Key Largo: The largest of the Florida Keys at 30 miles long and the closest to the Florida mainland. It is known for its world-class scuba diving and snorkeling opportunities at the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. The island is about an hour’s drive from Miami.

Islamorada: Islamorada is really four islands. It’s between Key Largo and Marathon. The popular fishing destination is the “Sport Fishing Capital of the World.”

Marathon: The nine-mile-long island is in the middle of the Florida Keys and at one end of the famous Seven Mile Bridge. The village is a popular boating, fishing, and water sports destination.

Big Pine Key: Big Pine Key is known for its wildlife, especially the endangered Key deer. It’s home to the National Key Deer Refuge and the nearest town to Bahia Honda State Park.

Key West: The southernmost island in the Florida Keys is famous for its laid-back atmosphere, colorful history, and lively nightlife. As the prime tourist destination, find many museums, art galleries, and outdoor attractions.

Get Ready For Florida Keys Traffic

You may be wondering how it could take up to four hours to drive 125 miles by car from Key Largo to Key West. Easy: traffic!

This is the island lifestyle, where the pace is slow and laid back. Many islands have a speed limit of 35-45 miles per hour, which drops even slower when crossing nature preserves like Big Pine Key or busy island downtowns.

Then you have the Overseas Highway itself, which is just two lanes in both directions. Any construction, accident, or blockage severely impacts flow. Add in tourist traffic in the high season, and you have a recipe for slow going.

But it’s a different story once you’re settled in on your island. Take Key West, where locals prefer the maneuverability of mopeds to get around. Islamorada has electric on-call taxis. On some other islands, residents might ditch the car for walking, biking, golf cart, or boat. Exactly how walkable the island is will depend on your location, island infrastructure, and size.

And if you ditch the car, a bus service runs up and down the Keys. An airport shuttle service runs directly to Miami International Airport from your door.

One unique feature of getting directions in the Keys: mile markers. If you ask a local where something is–a restaurant, hotel, grocery store, etc.– you may hear them say, “Oh, it’s near mile marker 100.” Since it’s one shot in and out of the Keys, it’s the easiest way to give directions.

The Florida Keys Cost of Living Isn’t Cheap

To be honest, every Keys’ cost of living will be slightly different. Generally, though, you can expect an overall higher cost of living. Most everything has to be brought in, from groceries to fuel. Then there’s the demand for real estate with limited development space, which pushes up the prices.

To give you a sense of costs, here’s a comparison of the big islands using Sperling’s Best Places Index.

Florida Keys Education

The Monroe County School District is the public school system for the entire Keys. While it only serves 8,700 students, the geographical area is vast. It runs 16 schools across all the keys. Most schools are built on the larger islands, like Key West, Marathon, and Key Largo. So, depending on where you live, your children may travel up to an hour by bus to get to school–one way, twice a day!

You’ll find several K-8 schools or 6-12 schools to serve the spread-out population. There are six charter schools, including an ocean studies school.

For higher education, there is the College of the Florida Keys, the southernmost college in the continental US, with the main campus in Key West and two satellite locations in the Middle and Upper Keys. It has associate and bachelor programs in various fields, from marine engineering to nursing.

Things Simply Take Time

There’s a reason why the islands are known for having a laid-back vibe. It just takes longer to do anything. The islands are connected via the highway, which can be slow going. If you want to head to Miami to access its airport, museums, or any of those other amenities, it’s a whole day, if not an overnight, kind of trip.

If you need to access specific government services, again, it will take planning and a big chunk of your day to get done. Unless you live on a big island, going to the grocery store is not a down-the-road deal.

Let’s Get Real About Hurricanes

Look, there are some serious perks when you live in the Florida Keys. Year-round tropical weather. Cooling sea breezes and stunning sunsets. But the islands’ location in the Florida Straits and low-lying status mean you must take tropical storm threats seriously. Even a depression can cause high waves and storm surges that cover the islands.

When Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Middle Keys in 2017, the eight-foot storm surge and sustained high winds damaged 55,000 homes across all the Keys. Over 1,000 were completely destroyed. It took weeks to restore basic infrastructure, like clean water and communications.

So if you’re going to live in the Keys, you need to be prepared for these storms and understand your home, even if built to the latest construction codes, is always at risk. Part of your lifestyle is having the supplies on hand to hunker down in place for more minor events, while another is having an evacuation plan. And if you do evacuate, do so early, as the Overseas Highway will be backed up.

Stay Busy On and Off the Water

You live on an island! What isn’t there to do that involves water?

The Florida Keys lifestyle uniquely blends natural beauty, outdoor recreation, and cultural attractions. Whether you’re looking to snorkel in crystal-clear waters, fish for trophy game, or simply relax on a white-sand beach, the Florida Keys has it. Go tickling for lobsters in season. Dive century-old shipwrecks or hunt for lost Spanish treasure. Take a relaxing kayak around an estuary or speed up by skiing behind your power boat.

But let’s say you can’t get out on the water for some reason. Maybe there’s a thunderstorm rolling in, or a cold front has kicked up some waves. What else can you do in the Keys?

The Ernest Hemingway Museum was the home of one of America’s iconic writers. Sure, lots of tourists stop in for a visit, but it doesn’t mean the home isn’t a cool place for locals to check out. If nothing else, you can pet the six-toed cats that still roam the grounds.

Speaking of history, The Little White House is also in Key West. President Harry S. Truman used his “winter White House” as a place to recharge during the Cold War.

If your search for underwater treasure turns up empty, no worries. The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum will impress you with what the underwater archaeologist has found. See shining Spanish gold up close and tour the preservation lab.

The Overseas Highway Trail transformed the first bridge across the islands into a pedestrian route with miles of road cycling, skateboarding, rollerblading, or fishing.

Fort Zachary Historic State Park in Key West was built over 100 years ago and has cannons dating to the Civil War. The views from the top are cool to check out.

And, if you can boat or fly out, the Dry Tortugas is among the country’s most remote—and extraordinary—national parks. Tour the fort where Geronimo was imprisoned or camp at its nearby island for a one-of-a-kind experience.

Up and down the Keys are wildlife sanctuaries and hospitals. Check out the Dolphin Research Center on Grassy Key or the Theater of the Sea on Islamorada.

Florida Key Real Estate

One of the coolest parts of living on the Keys is the sense of community you’ll gain. Yes, there’s a lot of tourism, but after a while, you’ll get to know the faces you see again and again at the grocery store or your favorite restaurant.

For properties, you have all kinds of choices. Find condominiums, vacation timeshares, villas, and luxurious single-family homes on the waterfront. Some people even opt to live on their house or sailboats! But no matter where or how you live, you’re never far from the waterfront.

Due to the limitations on island spaces, the high demand for island living, and the construction cost, real estate here is more expensive than the state and national average. You also have to factor in how you will have higher home insurance because of the low-lying islands and tropical weather.

To give you a sense of the pricing, the median list price for Key West in January 2023 was $1,195,000. That was 7.7% more than in January 2022. The median sale price was $830,000, and the homes spent a median 39 days on the market.

Remember, Key West tends to be one of the more in-demand markets on the islands, but you will find prices exceeding $1 million in 2023 on most major islands.

Monroe County Resources

You’ll work with the Florida Keys aqueduct authority for water service in the Florida Keys. Power comes from the Florida Keys Electric Co-Op. Tags and registration are handled through the Monroe County Government Center in Plantation Key at mile marker 88.5. Drivers’ licenses can be transferred at Key Largo.

Living in the Keys

Hopefully, this gives you some insight into life in this unique part of America and Florida. Sure, living in the Keys comes with a higher cost of living and the risk of hurricanes every season, but you get to enjoy an incredible lifestyle surrounded by the waterfront. The people are great, and the communities are friendly.

Given the size of the Keys, a local real estate agent can help you pinpoint the right island for the getaway lifestyle you desire.