This compares the four parts of St. Augustine where most renters look, for a week, a winter or a year, furnished or not. Every figure is sourced and dated; where none exists, that is said.
What the numbers can and cannot tell you
Zumper's St. Augustine data for 3 October 2026 puts the median one-bedroom at $1,472 and two-bedroom at $1,750, with the overall average down 10.5 percent in a year. Its neighborhood averages, quoted below, mix every unit size: a ranking, not a price. Nobody publishes averages for furnished or vacation rentals.
The city's flood hazards page says about 90 percent of residents live in a floodplain, and that Matthew in October 2016 flooded Davis Shores, Lincolnville, the historic districts and parts of the Abbott Tract, and Irma in 2017 many of the same areas. FEMA notes that most homeowners insurance excludes flood, that renters can buy National Flood Insurance Program cover, and that a policy typically takes 30 days to start.
Historic Downtown
Historic Downtown is the old town around the plaza, and the easiest place here to live without a car. It suits Flagler College students, restaurant and hotel staff, and short stays. The college, on King Street, requires students to live on campus for their first two years, which sends juniors and seniors into the private market; one told News4JAX in March 2026 that rent nearby "goes from about $1,000 to $2,000 just for one room".
The stock is old houses, cottages and small apartment buildings, much of it competing with visitors. City rules from 2019 set minimum rental periods by zoning district: a month in the HP-1 historic preservation district, a week in the RS-1 and RS-2 residential districts, nightly elsewhere, all with a city registration. Zumper's averages are $1,882 for what it calls the Old City and $2,097 for the Spanish Quarter.
Parking is the daily cost. The Historic Downtown Parking Facility charges $20 per entry from 7am to 5pm, $3 for registered county residents, or $32 a month before tax, and some blocks are residential permit areas. During Nights of Lights, 21 November 2026 to 18 January 2027, Visit St. Augustine describes resident-only street parking in Flagler Model Land, the Abbott Tract and Uptown, with a $100 fine.
During Ian in September 2022, News4JAX reported water over the seawall, A1A flooded near the Bridge of Lions and heavy flooding in Flagler College's parking garage. FDOT's $19.9 million seawall replacement from the Bridge of Lions to Charlotte Street began on 15 June 2026 and runs to fall 2027.
Lincolnville
Lincolnville, south of King Street, began as a settlement of emancipated slaves in 1866. Its Florida historical marker records that, after the forced segregation of the late 1800s, residents built their own churches, schools and business center; that civil rights demonstrations organized there in 1964 influenced the congressional debate that led to the Civil Rights Act; and that the fifty-block neighborhood holds the city's largest concentration of late Victorian-era buildings, mostly private homes. It joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stayed in Lincolnville homes, Visit St. Augustine notes.
It is still a lived-in neighborhood, and it has changed fast. Census figures reported by Flagler College's student paper, The Gargoyle, in December 2016, show 797 African American residents in 2000 and 375 in 2014, and News4JAX reported in January 2018 on homes turned into vacation rentals and longtime residents leaving as taxes rose. A renter here is moving onto a residential street, not into an annex of the tourist district.
It suits people who want an older house within walking distance of downtown but outside the crowds. Zumper's average is $1,995. The city lists it among the areas Matthew flooded; ask which streets took water.
Davis Shores
Davis Shores is the north end of Anastasia Island, across the Bridge of Lions from downtown. Its historical marker records that D.P. Davis raised 1,500 acres of swampy lowland by dredge and fill in 1925, that the 1926 land bust stopped him after eleven Mediterranean Revival buildings, and that most growth came after the Second World War. Expect mainly post-war single-family houses, suited to families, retirees and year-round renters.
The Bridge of Lions is a drawbridge. The city's schedule has it opening on the hour and half-hour from 7am to 6pm, except weekdays at 8am, noon and 5pm. Time a mainland commute around it.
Flooding is the trade-off. During Ian, News4JAX reported that a lot of homes in South Davis Shores took on water, and days later Florida's emergency management chief told residents to explore FEMA grants to elevate their homes, Historic City News reported. Zumper's averages are $2,150 for North Davis Shores and $1,626 for South Davis Shores, the lowest in its city list. Ask whether the house has been elevated, and what happened in 2016, 2017 and 2022.
Vilano Beach
Vilano Beach is outside the city: A1A leaves the city limits at the Tolomato River and crosses on the Usina Bridge, so Vilano does not depend on the Bridge of Lions. Census Bureau 2024 five-year estimates count 2,188 residents with a median age of 56.2, and 1,608 homes for 1,047 households: about a third are nobody's usual residence. It suits retirees, snowbirds and remote workers who want the ocean on one side and the river on the other. You need a car.
In Matthew, the US Geological Survey recorded a 16-foot dune at Vilano Beach washed away. The county's Ian count, reported on 4 October 2022, listed major flooding at Porpoise Point, the peninsula's southern tip, and North Beach; after Nicole, WJCT reported A1A impassable from Vilano to Guana.
Rent data barely exists. RentCafe, which tracks buildings of 50 units or more, shows no Vilano figure in its 8 September 2026 update, and Zumper publishes none. Expect owner-let houses and condos priced one at a time, and see the best time to rent.
Other areas renters consider
- St. Augustine Beach. A separate city further down the island, with 6,803 residents in 2020 (Wikipedia). Rentometer's partial data for 4 October 2026 gives an average two-bedroom of $1,835.
- Anastasia Island south. Butler Beach, Crescent Beach and Summer Haven have no rent index. Ian brought major flooding to Crescent Beach and a new breach at Summer Haven, and Nicole cost Crescent and Butler Beach the most sand (News4JAX, October and November 2022).
- West Augustine. Unincorporated and predominantly Black, with long-standing sewer gaps, as WJCT reported in 2015. Jax Today reported in June 2026 that the Village of New Augustine, 92 apartments for households at or below 60 percent of area median income, was preparing for its first residents, with one-bedrooms from about $634.
- World Golf Village. A master-planned community between St. Augustine and Jacksonville, begun in 1998 with its own I-95 interchange; 22,117 people in 2020 (Wikipedia).
- St. Johns, Nocatee and the US-1 and I-95 corridor. Housing units in Nocatee's 32081 ZIP code rose from about 2,102 in 2014 to more than 10,000 in 2023, according to a RentCafe analysis reported in May 2026. New subdivisions, and the shortest drive to Jacksonville.
- Palm Coast. A Flagler County city 25 miles south (Wikipedia). Zumper's 3 October 2026 medians are $1,200 for a one-bedroom and $1,525 for a two-bedroom.
Choosing by situation
- Flagler College junior or senior. Historic Downtown or Lincolnville, budgeting by the room. Start well before the fall term.
- Hospital worker. UF Health Flagler Hospital is on the mainland along US 1 (Wikipedia). A mainland address keeps bridges out of shift changes and storms.
- Hospitality worker. Downtown or Lincolnville to walk to work; otherwise West Augustine's income-restricted units if you qualify, or Palm Coast with a car.
- Jacksonville commuter. St. Augustine is 35 miles south of Jacksonville by Flagler College's count, and about 31 percent of employed county residents work outside the county, mostly in Duval (St. Johns Citizen, October 2025). World Golf Village, St. Johns and Nocatee shorten the trip; an island adds a bridge. We found no reliable commute time; drive it at rush hour first.
- Retiree or snowbird. Vilano Beach, North Davis Shores or St. Augustine Beach. Ask about flood history, and book winter early.
- Family. Davis Shores for an older house close to town; World Golf Village, St. Johns or Nocatee for newer subdivisions. Confirm the school zone for the exact address.
- Short or vacation stay. Downtown, Vilano or the beaches. Confirm the registration and the refund terms if an evacuation order comes.
Neighborhood averages move month to month, and flood history describes past storms, not the next one. Everything above was checked in October 2026. Ask the owner, in writing, for the flood zone, the floor level and what happened in recent storms. For utilities and insurance, see the cost of living in St. Augustine.