Best Places77401, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 77401, 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.
77401 ranks 3,965th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 77401
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.
77401's strengths and weaknesses
Where 77401 ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Household income$205,542 median, better than 99% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 97% of zip codes
Where 77401 ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 15% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 77401
A household needs to earn about $300,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 77401 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $205,542, 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 77401's effective rate of 1.56%, 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 77401
77401'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 77401.
Who works in 77401, and how
Work in 77401 centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 77401
77401 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of zip codes. The coast is about 31 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 77401 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 77401, month by month
77401 sees roughly 138 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 77401
William P Hobby sits about 12 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 77401
Schools across 77401 average a C+, better than 48% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
Top middle schools
- Pin Oak MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Pershing MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Meyerland MiddleC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Challenge Early College H SA− · 65% proficient
- Bellaire H SB+ · 55% proficient
- Lamar H SB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 77401 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
77401 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 77401 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 77401
Is 77401 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 77401 ranks 3,965th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on an educated workforce, what local pay buys, and high incomes, and lowest on disaster risk and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 77401 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,037,979. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $205,542 median income, cost of living beats 100% of zip codes.
Is 77401 safe?
77401 is safer than 15% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $605 per resident a year.
Compare 77401 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 77401. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 77401 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.
77401 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 77401: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 77401: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 77401: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 77401: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
77401 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.