Southwest Florida:

Southwest Florida is a very unique place to live. As with all cities in Florida there is no state income tax. Sales tax is 6%, zero tax on services. Florida has a Homestead Exemption law that allows eligible homeowners to deduct $25,000 from the assessed value prior to computation of taxes due. Property taxes include county, school & miscellaneous taxes and average at about 22 per 1,000 of assessed value. For more information on taxes please visit: www.LeePa.Org (the Lee County Property Appraiser's website).

In 2003, the Milkin Institute named Fort Myers-Cape Coral as the third best performing city in the nation for job creation.

Forbes magazine ranked Fort Myers-Cape Coral 5th Among the Top 150 Cities for Job Growth in 2003.

Expansion Management Magazine named Lee County a four-star community in its annual quality of life scorecard for 2003.

U.S. Housing Markets ranked Fort Myers-Cape Coral as the number one housing market in a metropolitan area in the nation. (2003).

Time magazine featured Lee County in their November 24, 2003 cover story as one of the“Hot Towns” for jobs.

Self magazine ranked the Fort Myers-Cape Coral metropolitan area “No. 1 in the nation for working women.” (2003)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Lee County, Florida as the second highest county in the nation for job growth from March 2002 through March 2003.