Best Places78741, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 78741, 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.
78741 ranks 13,969th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 78741
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.
78741's strengths and weaknesses
Where 78741 ranks high
- TransitBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 96% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 78741 ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- School gradeD, better than only 11% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 13% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 78741
A household needs to earn about $121,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 78741 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $69,005, 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 78741's effective rate of 1.35%, 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 78741
78741 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 78741.
Who works in 78741, and how
Work in 78741 centers on hospitality & food and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in 78741
78741 has more parkland per resident than 92% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 78741 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 78741, month by month
78741 sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 50° | 38° |
| April | 83° | 68° | 56° |
| July | 99° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 86° | 71° | 58° |
Flying in and out of 78741
Austin-Bergstrom International sits about 4 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 10.7 million passengers in 2025, with 127 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 78741
Schools across 78741 average a D, better than 11% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Idea Montopolis AcademyC− · 30% proficient
- Smith ElD+ · 25% proficient
- Zavala ElD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lively MiddleC− · 30% proficient
- Dailey MiddleC− · 28% proficient
- John P Ojeda MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Lasa H SA+ · 99% proficient
- Idea Montopolis College PreparatoryC · 33% proficient
- Del Valle H SD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 78741 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
78741 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 78741 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 78741 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 78741
Is 78741 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 78741 ranks 13,969th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, cell coverage, and fast internet, and lowest on thin health care access and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 78741 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $431,177. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $69,005 median income, cost of living beats 54% of zip codes.
Is 78741 safe?
78741 is safer than 20% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $584 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 78741?
July highs average about 99 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 38. That works out to about 122 pleasant days a year, more than 76% of zip codes.
Is 78741 good for families?
Schools beat 11% of zip codes, crime safety beats 20%, and childcare runs $1,048 a month.
Compare 78741 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 78741. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 78741 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.
78741 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 78741: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 78741: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 78741: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 78741: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
78741 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.