The headline numbers
Across 20,946 licensed Florida food establishments inspected between 1 July and 27 August 2026, the average ClearScore was 89.4 out of 100. Just under two thirds earned a Grade A, and 18% came through their most recent inspection with no violations recorded at all.
The spread between counties is far wider than the state average suggests. Escambia County averages 98.0 — the highest in Florida, with 95% of its restaurants at Grade A. Alachua County averages 86.2, with fewer than half its restaurants reaching Grade A. That is a 12-point gap between two counties in the same state under the same inspection regime.
The pattern is geographic. Every one of the top five counties is in the Panhandle or North Florida. Of the ten largest counties by restaurant count, only Polk and Hillsborough break into the statewide top ten.
Florida's ten largest counties, ranked
These ten counties contain 13,779 restaurants — two thirds of the state's total.
| # | County | Avg ClearScore | Grade A | Restaurants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Polk | 94.7 | 86% | 540 |
| 2 | Hillsborough | 91.5 | 70% | 1,380 |
| 3 | Lee | 90.4 | 65% | 822 |
| 4 | Brevard | 89.6 | 62% | 660 |
| 5 | Pinellas | 89.0 | 61% | 962 |
| 6 | Broward | 88.7 | 61% | 1,879 |
| 7 | Orange | 88.7 | 60% | 1,792 |
| 8 | Miami-Dade | 88.4 | 59% | 3,251 |
| 9 | Palm Beach | 87.0 | 53% | 1,167 |
| 10 | Duval | 86.6 | 54% | 1,126 |
Miami-Dade, the largest restaurant market in the state with 3,251 establishments, sits eighth of ten at 88.4. Duval ranks last among the majors at 86.6, with 1.2% of its restaurants scoring below 40 — the highest failure rate of any large county.
All Florida counties ranked
Counties with at least 50 inspected restaurants. Smaller counties are excluded because a single result would swing the average.
| # | County | Avg ClearScore | Grade A | Restaurants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Escambia | 98.0 | 95% | 321 |
| 2 | Okaloosa | 97.2 | 89% | 239 |
| 3 | Leon | 95.7 | 85% | 163 |
| 4 | Santa Rosa | 95.6 | 85% | 170 |
| 5 | Polk | 94.7 | 86% | 540 |
| 6 | Hernando | 94.3 | 78% | 99 |
| 7 | Pasco | 94.2 | 80% | 375 |
| 8 | Walton | 93.5 | 79% | 187 |
| 9 | Bay | 93.1 | 78% | 260 |
| 10 | Martin | 91.8 | 71% | 201 |
| 11 | Citrus | 91.6 | 74% | 69 |
| 12 | Hillsborough | 91.5 | 70% | 1,380 |
| 13 | Highlands | 91.4 | 71% | 131 |
| 14 | Sumter | 91.0 | 69% | 58 |
| 15 | Manatee | 90.4 | 66% | 414 |
| 16 | Lee | 90.4 | 65% | 822 |
| 17 | Collier | 89.6 | 62% | 350 |
| 18 | Brevard | 89.6 | 62% | 660 |
| 19 | Flagler | 89.6 | 60% | 120 |
| 20 | Osceola | 89.5 | 61% | 329 |
| 21 | Sarasota | 89.2 | 62% | 381 |
| 22 | Seminole | 89.1 | 61% | 339 |
| 23 | Pinellas | 89.0 | 61% | 962 |
| 24 | St. Lucie | 89.0 | 64% | 228 |
| 25 | Broward | 88.7 | 61% | 1,879 |
| 26 | Orange | 88.7 | 60% | 1,792 |
| 27 | Miami-Dade | 88.4 | 59% | 3,251 |
| 28 | St. Johns | 88.2 | 60% | 287 |
| 29 | Charlotte | 88.2 | 59% | 145 |
| 30 | Marion | 87.4 | 57% | 204 |
| 31 | Clay | 87.1 | 50% | 72 |
| 32 | Palm Beach | 87.0 | 53% | 1,167 |
| 33 | Lake | 86.8 | 57% | 323 |
| 34 | Monroe | 86.7 | 51% | 328 |
| 35 | Volusia | 86.7 | 53% | 528 |
| 36 | Duval | 86.6 | 54% | 1,126 |
| 37 | Columbia | 86.5 | 59% | 51 |
| 38 | Indian River | 86.4 | 54% | 167 |
| 39 | Nassau | 86.3 | 57% | 99 |
| 40 | Alachua | 86.2 | 49% | 284 |
Use this data
These figures are free to reproduce, including for commercial publication, with attribution to ClearCraves and a link to this page. The full county table is available as a CSV. If you need a cut we haven't published — a single county, a city, a date range — email us and we'll prepare it.
Download the county data (CSV)Method, and what these numbers do not show
Every establishment's most recent inspection in the period was scored on a 0–100 scale. Restaurants start at 100 and lose 7 points per high-priority violation, 3 per intermediate violation, and 1 per basic violation, floored at zero. High-priority violations are those the state considers capable of directly causing foodborne illness.
Two honest limitations. First, this is a summer snapshot — inspections from 1 July to 27 August 2026 — not a full year, so seasonal patterns are not controlled for. Second, and more importantly, inspections are carried out by seven regional DBPR districts, and a county's average reflects how its inspectors record violations as well as how its kitchens are run. A 12-point gap is a real difference in the public record; whether it is entirely a difference in kitchen hygiene is a question this data alone cannot settle.
Source data is published by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and is available to anyone at myfloridalicense.com. ClearCraves is independent and not affiliated with any government agency.