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Published: Sep 16, 2019
Children in matching shirts in front of bright yellow train caboose in Winter Garden, Florida
Courtesy of Winter Garden

A Winter Garden in the Sunshine State? It's true — and it's where 54,371 residents of the Orlando metropolitan area call home.

But don't let the name confuse you: Like the rest of Florida, Winter Garden has a warm, subtropical climate and an average 236 sunny days each year. And yet the weather is far from the only reason to live here.

The county has had 28.2% job growth over the past decade and Winter Garden boasts a thriving business community. The median household income is $76,269, nearly $24,000 higher than the average reported for Florida as of 2017.

Looking for something to do in your spare time? Historic Downtown Winter Garden is filled with restaurants, shopping, cafes, and two museums. Once a defunct movie theatre, the Garden Theatre was revitalized by the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation into a performing arts venue that hosts plays, concerts, and films. If you want even more entertainment, Walt Disney World and Universal Studios are both less than 25 minutes away by car. — Olivia Raimonde