Best Places77381, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 77381, 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.
77381 ranks 1,265th 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 77381
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.
77381's strengths and weaknesses
Where 77381 ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 97% of zip codes
- Household income$156,442 median, better than 96% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 77381 ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 26% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 27% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 77381
A household needs to earn about $144,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 77381 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $156,442, 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 77381's effective rate of 1.37%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 77381
77381 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 77381.
Who works in 77381, and how
Work in 77381 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 77381
77381 has more parkland per resident than 77% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 77381 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 77381, month by month
77381 sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 53° | 44° |
| April | 81° | 70° | 61° |
| July | 95° | 84° | 76° |
| October | 84° | 72° | 61° |
Flying in and out of 77381
George Bush Intcntl/Houston sits about 16 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 77381
Schools across 77381 average an A, better than 97% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- David ElA+ · 82% proficient
- Galatas ElA+ · 81% proficient
- Ride ElA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mccullough J HA+ · 83% proficient
- Collins IntA+ · 76% proficient
- Wilkerson IntB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- The Woodlands H SA+ · 83% proficient
- College Park H SA · 72% proficient
- Klein Oak H SB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 77381 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
77381 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 77381 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 77381 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 21% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 70% of zip codes and health care access beats 75%.
Common questions about living in 77381
Is 77381 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 77381 ranks 1,265th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on what local pay buys, good schools, and high incomes, and lowest on air quality and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 77381 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $511,790. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $156,442 median income, cost of living beats 99% of zip codes.
Is 77381 safe?
77381 is safer than 27% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $500 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 77381?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 65 with lows near 44. That works out to about 112 pleasant days a year, more than 70% of zip codes.
Is 77381 good for families?
Schools beat 97% of zip codes, crime safety beats 27%, and childcare runs $842 a month.
Compare 77381 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 77381. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 77381 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.
77381 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 77381: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 77381: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 77381: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 77381: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
77381 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.