Best Places77049, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 77049, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
77049 ranks 26,830th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 77049
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.
77049's strengths and weaknesses
Where 77049 ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of zip codes
Where 77049 ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 77049
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 77049 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,353, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 77049's effective rate of 1.53%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 77049
77049 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 77049.
Who works in 77049, and how
Work in 77049 centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 77049
77049 has more parkland per resident than 80% of zip codes. The coast is about 20 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 77049 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 77049, month by month
77049 sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 47. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 55° | 47° |
| April | 81° | 71° | 63° |
| July | 95° | 85° | 78° |
| October | 85° | 74° | 66° |
Flying in and out of 77049
William P Hobby sits about 14 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 6.8 million passengers in 2025, with 101 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 77049
Schools across 77049 average a C−, better than 20% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Mcmullan ElC · 31% proficient
- Harvey S Brown ElC · 30% proficient
- James B Havard ElC · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Highlands J HB · 43% proficient
- Cunningham MiddleC · 32% proficient
- Cobb 6th Grade CampusC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Impact Early College H SA− · 62% proficient
- Galena Park Isd Career & Technical EchsA− · 60% proficient
- North Shore Senior HighC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 77049 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
77049 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 77049 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 77049 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 77049
Is 77049 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 77049 ranks 26,830th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cell coverage, low taxes, and fast internet, and lowest on thin health care access and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 77049 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $219,426. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $74,353 median income, cost of living beats 54% of zip codes.
Is 77049 safe?
77049 is safer than 15% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $621 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 77049?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 47. That works out to about 128 pleasant days a year, more than 80% of zip codes.
Is 77049 good for families?
Schools beat 20% of zip codes, crime safety beats 15%, and childcare runs $842 a month.
Compare 77049 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 77049. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 77049 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.
77049 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 77049: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 77049: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 77049: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 77049: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
77049 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.