Best Places76481, TX Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 76481, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.

See the map of best neighborhoods

76481 ranks 9,719th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.

#9,719
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
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The best neighborhoods in 76481

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 76481 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.

76481's strengths and weaknesses

Top 3%A strong job market
Top 3%Quiet
Top 5%The weather
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 76481 with other zip codes.

Where 76481 ranks high

  • Local economyBetter than 98% of zip codes
  • QuietBetter than 97% of zip codes
  • Nice weatherabout 181 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of zip codes
  • Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes
  • Cheap childcare$595 a month, better than 85% of zip codes

Where 76481 ranks low

  • BikingBetter than only 1% of zip codes
  • WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of zip codes
  • Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of zip codes
  • Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
  • Internet speedBetter than only 26% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 76481

A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 76481 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,878, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$52,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$1,211
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $200,177 home

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$1,021
Property tax$124
Homeowners insurance$67

Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 76481's effective rate of 0.74%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.


Who lives in 76481

76481 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.

Median age
58
older than the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
31%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
1.8
below the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1811%
18 to 3411%
35 to 4921%
50 to 6426%
65 and older31%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 76481.


Who works in 76481, and how

Work in 76481 centers on mining & oil & gas and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.

Work from home
8%
below the national average
Unemployment
0.4%
below the national average
Job growth
+10.4%
/y 2019-2023, faster than the national pace

Largest industries

Mining & oil & gas14%
Manufacturing12%
Health care & social11%
Other services9%
Construction9%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 90%
  • Work from home 8%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 2%

Life in 76481

The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 76481.


What the weather is like in 76481, month by month

76481 sees roughly 181 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January58°43°32°
April79°64°53°
July98°85°74°
October81°66°54°

Flying in and out of 76481

The nearest airport, Abilene Regional, is about 67 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 99 miles away.

Nearest airport
ABI
Abilene Regional, about 67 miles
Airport size
Nonhub
227th-busiest in the US, 8 nonstop destinations
Average drive
96 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 76481

Schools across 76481 average a B−, better than 62% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 76481 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


76481 measure by measure

Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 76481 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Common questions about living in 76481

Is 76481 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 76481 ranks 9,719th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on a strong job market, quiet, and the weather, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 76481 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $200,177. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $82,878 median income, cost of living beats 74% of zip codes.

Is 76481 safe?

76481 is safer than 54% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $348 per resident a year.


Compare 76481 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 76481. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 76481 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.

76481 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 76481: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 76481: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 76481: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 76481: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

76481 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.