Job Transfer and will in and out of either Pensacola or Mobile Airport often. Thanks for the info on the land too.

If you're gonna be flying alot, get closer to P'cola...it costs 2x as much to fly out of Mobile as it does P'cola

Crestview schools are mediocre at best. Niceville schools are, by far, the best in the area. PLew aND Bluewater Bay Elementary schools, in Niceville, are fantastic and ranked among the Top 100 in the state (remember this isn't Alabama, we have 20 million people in Florida so Top 100 is great), Ruckel Middle School in Niceville another Top 100 school and then there's Niceville High School, another Top 100 school. Niceville as far as quality of life is probably the best west of Tallahassee.
Pensacola has some nice areas but just got named as one of the Top 10 most dangerous small cities in the US. Lots of gang activity there, imported from NOLA after Katrina.
I live in northern Walton county. I like it here. 45 min to the beach, 30 to Niceville, Crestview and almost an hour to that hell hole called Destin. Most locals don't do Destin, lol. Hunting is fantastic for deer, turkey, quail, doves, ducks, etc and of course we have the bays and the GOM. I live the perfect distance from the beaches to stay out of the tourist trap from Jun to Aug, live where I hunt and still close enough to everything that it's convenient.
My kids go to Walton HS. It's a decent school but it could be better. My wife teaches there. Really the school helps but it's the student and parents that really make the difference.
It all depends on what you like, rural, semi-urban or urban. There is a huge difference between different areas of both Okaloosa and Walton counties. South ends are touristy with the beaches and tbe further north you go, the more rural the counties are. If I could choose the best place to raise a family and quality of schools, Niceville wins, hands down.
No state income tax, sales tax is 7.5% aND no sales tax on food at the grocery store. However our gas tax is pretty high and cost of living is higher. I still believe it's cheaper to live here than in Alabama. A 10.5% sales tax on groceries and everything else is insane!
I went to grad school at USA, but I lived on Dauphin Island, MS Marine Science, all of my classes except 2 were on the island so I really can't comment on living in Mobile. I can say its a nice town in some parts like most places.

Okaloosa County

1. Niceville
2. Shalimar/Valparaiso
3. FWB
4. Crestview
5. Laurel Hill

Walton County

1. Freeport
2. South Walton Beach area (SRB, Grayton, etc...) $$$$$!!!
3. Defuniak Springs
4. Paxton

Just my .02 cents on the subject

Most anyplace in Baldwin county would be a little closer to the Mobile airport, but realistically you wouldn't be much farther from the pensacola airport either. If work is paying for the flights it probably doesn't matter but I know almost every flight you get out of mobile has to connect in atlanta. You can hardly ever get a direct flight. I would check flights out of pensacola and see if it is any better. That cuts quite a bit of travel time but I don't know how flights are there.