Best Places77581, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 77581, 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.
77581 ranks 5,442nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 77581
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.
77581's strengths and weaknesses
Where 77581 ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Household income$125,940 median, better than 92% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 77581 ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Short commute32.8 minutes each way, better than only 17% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 77581
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 77581 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $125,940, 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 77581's effective rate of 1.72%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 77581
77581 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 77581.
Who works in 77581, and how
Work in 77581 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 77581
77581 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 76% of zip codes. The coast is about 23 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 77581 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 77581, month by month
77581 sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 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 | 94° | 85° | 78° |
| October | 84° | 74° | 65° |
Flying in and out of 77581
William P Hobby sits about 6 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 77581
Schools across 77581 average an A−, better than 87% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Shadycrest ElA · 63% proficient
- Zue S Bales IntA− · 60% proficient
- Rustic Oak ElA− · 56% proficient
Top middle schools
- Westbrook IntA+ · 69% proficient
- Friendswood J HA · 64% proficient
- Pearland J H EastA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- Robert Turner College And Career H SA · 74% proficient
- Friendswood H SA · 73% proficient
- Pearland H SA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 77581 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
77581 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 77581 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 77581 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 77581
Is 77581 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 77581 ranks 5,442nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and low taxes, 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 77581 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $333,715. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $125,940 median income, cost of living beats 96% of zip codes.
Is 77581 safe?
77581 is safer than 44% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $417 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 77581?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 47. That works out to about 134 pleasant days a year, more than 83% of zip codes.
Is 77581 good for families?
Schools beat 87% of zip codes, crime safety beats 44%, and childcare runs $842 a month.
Compare 77581 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 77581. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 77581 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.
77581 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 77581: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 77581: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 77581: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 77581: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
77581 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.