Best Places77018, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 77018, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
77018 ranks 5,257th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 77018
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.
77018's strengths and weaknesses
Where 77018 ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Household income$143,116 median, better than 95% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 77018 ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 77018
A household needs to earn about $166,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 77018 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $143,116, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
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 77018's effective rate of 1.45%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 77018
77018 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 77018.
Who works in 77018, and how
Work in 77018 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 77018
77018 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 86% of zip codes. The coast is about 33 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 77018 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 77018, month by month
77018 sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 49. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 55° | 49° |
| April | 80° | 71° | 64° |
| July | 94° | 85° | 79° |
| October | 83° | 74° | 67° |
Flying in and out of 77018
George Bush Intcntl/Houston sits about 12 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 23.3 million passengers in 2025, with 214 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 77018
Schools across 77018 average a C−, better than 22% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Forest ElA · 65% proficient
- Garden Oaks MontessoriC− · 30% proficient
- Durham ElD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Black MiddleB · 46% proficient
- Hamilton MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Williams MiddleD− · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Heights H SB · 48% proficient
- Washington B T H SC− · 28% proficient
- Waltrip H SC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 77018 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
77018 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 77018 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 77018 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 77018
Is 77018 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 77018 ranks 5,257th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on what local pay buys, transit, and high incomes, and lowest on air quality and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 77018 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $584,013. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $143,116 median income, cost of living beats 98% of zip codes.
Is 77018 safe?
77018 is safer than 14% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $638 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 77018?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 49. That works out to about 132 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of zip codes.
Is 77018 good for families?
Schools beat 22% of zip codes, crime safety beats 14%, and childcare runs $842 a month.
Compare 77018 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 77018. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 77018 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.
77018 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 77018: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 77018: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 77018: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 77018: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
77018 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- 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.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.