Best Places77551, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 77551, 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.
77551 ranks 21,212th 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 77551
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.
77551's strengths and weaknesses
Where 77551 ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 92% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 77551 ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 77551
A household needs to earn about $94,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 77551 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $69,284, 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 77551's effective rate of 1.10%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 77551
77551's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 77551.
Who works in 77551, and how
Work in 77551 centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in 77551
77551 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 67% of zip codes. The coast is about 2 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 77551 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 77551, month by month
77551 sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 57° | 51° |
| April | 78° | 72° | 67° |
| July | 91° | 85° | 81° |
| October | 83° | 76° | 71° |
Flying in and out of 77551
William P Hobby sits about 37 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 77551
Schools across 77551 average a B+, better than 79% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
Top middle schools
- Austin MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- WeisD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Ball H SC · 31% proficient
- Aim College & Career PrepD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 77551 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
77551 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 77551 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 77551 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 77551
Is 77551 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 77551 ranks 21,212th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cell coverage, transit, and walkability, and lowest on disaster risk and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 77551 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $344,968. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $69,284 median income, cost of living beats 33% of zip codes.
Is 77551 safe?
77551 is safer than 17% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $586 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 77551?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 51. That works out to about 146 pleasant days a year, more than 88% of zip codes.
Is 77551 good for families?
Schools beat 79% of zip codes, crime safety beats 17%, and childcare runs $842 a month.
Compare 77551 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 77551. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 77551 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.
77551 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 77551: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 77551: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 77551: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 77551: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
77551 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.