Best Places78201, TX Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 78201, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.

See the map of best neighborhoods

78201 ranks 26,702nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.

#26,702
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in 78201

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 78201 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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.

78201's strengths and weaknesses

Top 3%Transit
Top 5%Fast internet
Top 5%Cell coverage
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 78201 with other zip codes.

Where 78201 ranks high

  • TransitBetter than 98% of zip codes
  • Internet speedBetter than 96% of zip codes
  • Cell coverageBetter than 96% of zip codes
  • WalkabilityBetter than 96% of zip codes
  • Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes

Where 78201 ranks low

  • Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of zip codes
  • Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
  • Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of zip codes
  • Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of zip codes
  • School gradeD, better than only 6% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 78201

A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 78201 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $51,824; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.

Income to buy the median home
$56,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$1,317
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $201,393 home
Median rent
$1,169
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$1,027
Property tax$223
Homeowners insurance$67

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 78201's effective rate of 1.33%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in 78201

78201's age mix sits close to the national median.

Median age
39
about the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
16%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.7
near the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1820%
18 to 3424%
35 to 4920%
50 to 6419%
65 and older16%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 78201.


Who works in 78201, and how

Work in 78201 centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.

Work from home
11%
below the national average
Unemployment
4.8%
about the national average
Job growth
−4.4%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Construction19%
Health care & social14%
Hospitality & food12%
Retail trade11%
Education6%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 83%
  • Work from home 11%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 6%

Life in 78201

78201 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 68% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 78201 and thins out in others, which the map shows.

Places to eat and drink
306
restaurants, bars, and fast food, about 74.9 per 10,000 residents, more than 82% of zip codes
Coffee shops
21
about 5.1 per 10,000 residents, more than 68% of zip codes
Parkland
133 acres
about 3.3 acres per 1,000 residents, more than 68% of zip codes

What the weather is like in 78201, month by month

78201 sees roughly 150 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January67°53°40°
April84°70°58°
July98°85°76°
October86°72°61°

Flying in and out of 78201

San Antonio International sits about 6 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.3 million passengers in 2025, with 87 nonstop destinations.

Nearest airport
SAT
San Antonio International, about 6 miles
Airport size
Medium hub
43rd-busiest in the US, 87 nonstop destinations
Average drive
8 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 78201

Schools across 78201 average a D, better than 6% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 78201 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


78201 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 78201 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Who 78201 suits

Families

Schools land around the 6th percentile.

See the families priority ↑

Remote workers

Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.

See the remote-work priority ↑

Retirees

The weather beats 89% of zip codes.

See the retirees priority ↑


Common questions about living in 78201

Is 78201 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 78201 ranks 26,702nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, fast internet, and cell coverage, and lowest on civic engagement and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 78201 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $201,393. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $51,824 median income, cost of living beats 13% of zip codes.

Is 78201 safe?

78201 is safer than 15% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $607 per resident a year.

What is the weather like in 78201?

July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 67 with lows near 40. That works out to about 150 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of zip codes.

Is 78201 good for families?

Schools beat 6% of zip codes, crime safety beats 15%, and childcare runs $783 a month.


Compare 78201 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 78201. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 78201 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.

78201 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 78201: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 78201: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 78201: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 78201: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

78201 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.