This is mid-Fla, but when we moved from a good school system in a Dallas suburb to Brevard County, my daughter went from top 20% of her class to top 5%. This was unplanned but it set the table for her to have a full ride undergrad scholarship leading to a graduate program with also an assistantship.

After leaving school ( she stopped at a Master's ) she left anything related to academia behind but she's still roughly able to exploit the degree as a credential .

But South Fl is a completely different thing. I once declined a job offer there simply because more than half of the rental property on offer appeared to be phone-drop scams.

But South FL also has some truly great schools. I graduated High School from one of them. Many of my classmates ended up in ivy league schools. Everywhere, in my experience, has some good and bad schools.

You can do magnet programs there though. I went to school in Tampa. In general the public schools were awesome, but the magnet programs were absolutely incredible.

I just moved back here. I can confirm. Now looking for an exit strategy.

Looking to get out as well, Broward/Miami area is overcrowded and pricey, not to mention poorly educated. Lucky enough to work for a company that will allow me to go remote - can anyone recommend a place on the east coast? (preferably warm climate)

Lots of my friends are moving to the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill in North Carolina. They seem to like it a lot. I visit the area about 3-4 times a year and love it.

Isn't the CoL already rocketing up in that area of NC?

I'm sure it's gone up, but I think it's still pretty decent. Drinks/food are pretty reasonable. You don't need to live downtown since it's pretty car centric out there. Chapel Hill has that upbeat college feel I love.

Northern VA, DC area. Some of the best schools in the country.

Blacksburg Virginia?

I loved Blacksburg. But due to my rebellious, student nature I told the Montgomery county sheriff I'd never come back to that place. I'd hate to have to break a promise.

Go just a bit north. The line you must cross is between Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach. Stay south of Cocoa Beach.

Ideally you'd be near Melbourne, preferably closer to the beach. Suitable towns: Melbourne Beach, Indialantic, Satellite Beach