Best Places77096, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 77096, 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.
77096 ranks 12,385th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 77096
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.
77096's strengths and weaknesses
Where 77096 ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 97% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 94% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 77096 ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 77096
A household needs to earn about $128,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 77096 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $105,442, 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 77096's effective rate of 1.44%, 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 77096
77096's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 77096.
Who works in 77096, and how
Work in 77096 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in 77096
The coast is about 31 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 77096, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 77096, month by month
77096 sees roughly 145 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 77096
William P Hobby sits about 13 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 77096
Schools across 77096 average a D+, better than 16% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
Top middle schools
- Pershing MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Meyerland MiddleC− · 29% proficient
- Fondren MiddleD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Bellaire H SB+ · 55% proficient
- Westbury H SD+ · 25% proficient
- Sharpstown H SD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 77096 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
77096 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 77096 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 77096 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 77096
Is 77096 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 77096 ranks 12,385th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cell coverage, transit, and biking, and lowest on disaster risk and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 77096 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $451,420. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $105,442 median income, cost of living beats 90% of zip codes.
Is 77096 safe?
77096 is safer than 10% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $703 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 77096?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 49. That works out to about 145 pleasant days a year, more than 87% of zip codes.
Is 77096 good for families?
Schools beat 16% of zip codes, crime safety beats 10%, and childcare runs $842 a month.
Compare 77096 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 77096. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 77096 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.
77096 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 77096: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 77096: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 77096: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 77096: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
77096 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.