Cost of Living in Broward County 2026: What Relocating Buyers Actually Pay

The Real Answer First

If you’re relocating to Broward County and trying to figure out what you’ll actually pay to live here in 2026, here’s the honest breakdown: housing is the biggest lever by far, property taxes run roughly 1.7% to 2% of your purchase price before exemptions, homeowners insurance is commonly landing between $4,000 and $9,000 a year depending on your roof and your zip code, and HOA dues can be anywhere from nothing to over a thousand dollars a month depending on whether you buy resale in an older subdivision or new construction in a gated community.

That’s the framework. Now let’s get into the actual numbers, because “cost of living calculators” you find online are built off national averages and have no idea what’s happening on the ground in Davie, Parkland, or Pembroke Pines right now.

Housing: What You’re Actually Paying in 2026

Broward’s overall residential market is balanced right now, leaning slightly toward buyers, but that changes depending on what you’re shopping for.

• Single family homes: $615,000 median, with about 4.6 months of supply. That specific segment is actually balanced leaning toward sellers, even while the county overall leans toward buyers. Translation: don’t expect a screaming deal on a standalone house, but you’re not fighting 2021 conditions either.
• Townhouses: $445,000 median, 6.5 months of supply, balanced leaning toward buyers. More breathing room here to negotiate.
• Condos: $225,000 median, 10.5 months of supply, a clear buyer’s market. If your budget is tight and you’re open to condo living, this is where you have the most leverage right now.

For context, since a lot of relocators are cross-shopping the tri-county area: Miami-Dade’s single family median is higher at $678,000, and its condo market is also buyer-leaning at $396,250. Palm Beach actually has the highest single family median of the three at $685,000, though its single family and townhouse segments are both balanced leaning toward sellers. If pure affordability on a house is the priority, Broward is your best shot of the three right now.

Property Taxes: The Number Nobody Explains Right

Here’s what people relocating from no-property-tax states or low-tax states get wrong: they budget off the sticker price of the home and forget the tax line entirely, then get surprised at closing or at their first escrow review.

The reality is, plan for property taxes in the range of 1.7% to 2% of your purchase price annually before any homestead exemption is applied, and that range moves depending on the specific city and its millage rate, not just the county. If you’re going to live in the home as your primary residence, Florida’s homestead exemption knocks a meaningful chunk off your assessed value, and the Save Our Homes cap limits how much your assessed value (not market value) can climb each year after that, generally around 3%. That protection is one of the underrated perks of buying here long term instead of renting.

Investment properties and second homes don’t get that exemption, so if you’re buying to rent out, budget the higher end of that range and don’t assume the previous owner’s tax bill carries over. It doesn’t. Broward reassesses at sale.

Insurance: The Line Item That Surprises Relocators

This is the one that actually shifts people’s budgets the most, more than most buyers expect going in. Homeowners insurance in Broward commonly runs $4,000 to $9,000 or more a year in 2026, and where you land in that range depends heavily on roof age, construction type, flood zone, and proximity to the coast. A newer concrete block home with a recent roof and impact glass is going to price out meaningfully better than an older frame home with an aging roof, even at the same purchase price.

This is actually one of the quiet advantages of new construction right now. A community like Estates by Turnberry in west Davie, off Shotgun Road, is concrete block construction on both stories with impact glass throughout, which isn’t just a comfort feature, it’s an insurance underwriting advantage too. If insurance cost is a real concern for your budget (and it should be), ask your agent to pull actual quotes before you fall in love with an older resale home based on price alone.

Don’t skip flood insurance either if you’re anywhere near a flood zone designation, even an X zone. Get the elevation certificate and get a real quote, not a guess.

HOA and CDD Fees: Read Before You Fall in Love with a Floor Plan

Most resale homes in older Broward subdivisions either have no HOA or a modest one, often a few hundred dollars a year for basic common area upkeep. New construction is a different story, and this is where relocators get caught off guard.

Take Parkland Royale as a real example. It’s actually two separate collections with two separate price points: the Crown Collection sits on 50 foot homesites starting at $1,164,817, and the Monarch Collection sits on 60 foot homesites starting at $1,366,990. That extra ten feet of lot width isn’t just about yard space, it’s the difference between hearing your neighbor’s pool pump and not, and it’s part of what the HOA dues in that community are built around maintaining.

On the higher end, Estates by Turnberry in west Davie is 151 gated estate lots ranging from 20,000 to over 25,000 square feet, with six floor plans from $1,722,990 up to $2,194,990 before elevation, garage, and lot premiums. Gated, larger-lot communities like this typically carry higher HOA dues than a standard subdivision because you’re paying for gate staffing, more common area, and a higher standard of upkeep across the board.

The rule I give every relocating buyer: get the actual HOA budget and reserve study before you go under contract, not the sales rep’s summary of it. If a CDD (Community Development District) is attached to the property, that’s a separate line item on your tax bill funding infrastructure like roads and drainage, and it does not go away when the HOA dues are paid. Ask specifically whether a property has a CDD, because it won’t always be obvious from the listing.

Utilities and Day-to-Day Costs

Electric costs in Broward run higher than a lot of relocators expect, mostly because of air conditioning running close to year-round. Water and sewer are municipal and vary by city. None of this is the headline number in your relocation budget, but it adds up faster here than it did wherever you’re coming from if you’re used to a real winter that gives your HVAC system a break.

No State Income Tax (What That Actually Means)

Florida has no state income tax, and that’s real money back in your pocket if you’re relocating from a state that does, but don’t let that fact do all the budgeting work for you. It’s one input, not the whole equation. The buyers who make wise decisions are the ones who run the full picture, housing price, taxes, insurance, HOA, before they compare Broward to wherever they’re leaving, not the ones who stop at “no income tax” and call it a win.

So What Should You Budget?

Here’s the honest framework, step by step:

1. Start with the home price for the property type you actually want (single family, townhouse, or condo), using the current medians above as your baseline, not a number from three years ago.
2. Add 1.7% to 2% annually for property taxes, adjusted for whether you’ll homestead it.
3. Get a real insurance quote, not an estimate, factoring roof age and flood zone.
4. Pull the HOA budget and ask directly about any CDD if you’re looking at new construction or a gated community.
5. Build in utilities, expecting higher electric costs than a lot of other states.

Do that math before you fall for a floor plan or a curb appeal photo, and you’ll walk into this market with an educated decision instead of a surprised one at closing.

If you’re actively comparing new construction communities in the west Davie or Parkland corridors as part of this move, that’s exactly what I work with buyers on every week. DM me and let’s put your actual numbers together.