Best Places78257, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 78257, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
78257 ranks 5,237th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 78257
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.
78257's strengths and weaknesses
Where 78257 ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 78257 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 21% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 78257
A household needs to earn about $188,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 78257 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $89,598, 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 78257's effective rate of 1.83%, 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 78257
78257 runs younger than the country, 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 78257.
Who works in 78257, and how
Work in 78257 centers on professional & technical and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 78257
78257 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of zip codes and more late-night spots per resident than 98% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 78257 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 78257, month by month
78257 sees roughly 152 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.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 53° | 40° |
| April | 84° | 70° | 58° |
| July | 98° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 86° | 72° | 61° |
Flying in and out of 78257
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 78257
Schools across 78257 average a B+, better than 74% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Wilderness Oak ElA · 65% proficient
- Blattman ElA− · 61% proficient
- Fair Oaks Ranch ElA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lopez MiddleA+ · 71% proficient
- Spring Branch MiddleA · 66% proficient
- Boerne Middle SouthA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- Memorial Early College H S With St Philip'sA+ · 82% proficient
- Boerne - Samuel V Champion H SA · 75% proficient
- Reagan H SA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 78257 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
78257 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 78257 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 78257
Is 78257 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 78257 ranks 5,237th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on population health, a strong job market, and cell coverage, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 78257 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $631,417. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $89,598 median income, cost of living beats 82% of zip codes.
Is 78257 safe?
Yes, 78257 is safer than 70% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $292 per resident a year.
Compare 78257 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 78257. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 78257 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.
78257 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 78257: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 78257: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 78257: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 78257: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
78257 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.