Best Places78238, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 78238, 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.
78238 ranks 22,051st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 78238
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.
78238's strengths and weaknesses
Where 78238 ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 78238 ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 13% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 78238
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 78238 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $58,325; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 78238's effective rate of 1.45%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 78238
78238 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 78238.
Who works in 78238, and how
Work in 78238 centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in 78238
78238 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 77% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 78238 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 78238, month by month
78238 sees roughly 140 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 53° | 42° |
| April | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| July | 97° | 85° | 75° |
| October | 85° | 72° | 62° |
Flying in and out of 78238
San Antonio International sits about 10 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.3 million passengers in 2025, with 87 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 78238
Schools across 78238 average a C−, better than 20% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Powell ElC− · 27% proficient
- Elrod ElD+ · 23% proficient
- Esparza ElD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Connally MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Jones MiddleD · 23% proficient
- Ross MiddleD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Premier High School-san Antonio IngramB · 45% proficient
- Marshall H SB− · 45% proficient
- Holmes H SC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 78238 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
78238 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 78238 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 78238 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 78238
Is 78238 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 78238 ranks 22,051st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cell coverage, transit, and fast internet, and lowest on civic engagement and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 78238 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $219,997. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $58,325 median income, cost of living beats 28% of zip codes.
Is 78238 safe?
78238 is safer than 15% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $621 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 78238?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 42. That works out to about 140 pleasant days a year, more than 86% of zip codes.
Is 78238 good for families?
Schools beat 20% of zip codes, crime safety beats 15%, and childcare runs $783 a month.
Compare 78238 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 78238. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 78238 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.
78238 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 78238: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 78238: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 78238: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 78238: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
78238 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.