Best Places79068, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 79068, 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.
79068 ranks 10,571st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 79068
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.
79068's strengths and weaknesses
Where 79068 ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes
- School gradeA−, better than 88% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of zip codes
Where 79068 ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 79068
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 79068 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,743, 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 79068's effective rate of 1.32%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 79068
79068 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 79068.
Who works in 79068, and how
Work in 79068 centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 79068
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 79068.
What the weather is like in 79068, month by month
79068 sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 37° | 23° |
| April | 76° | 57° | 41° |
| July | 96° | 81° | 66° |
| October | 78° | 59° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 79068
The nearest airport, Rick Husband Amarillo International, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 294 miles away.
The best schools in and around 79068
Schools across 79068 average an A−, better than 88% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Panhandle ElA · 63% proficient
- Highland Park ElC+ · 38% proficient
- White Deer ElC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Panhandle J HA · 60% proficient
- Highland Park MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Panhandle H SA · 70% proficient
- Highland Park H SB+ · 55% proficient
- White Deer H SB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 79068 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
79068 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 79068 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 79068
Is 79068 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 79068 ranks 10,571st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on a stable housing market, civic engagement, and low taxes, and lowest on tree cover and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 79068 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,425. The overall cost of living runs about 26% below the national average. Set against a $83,743 median income, cost of living beats 87% of zip codes.
Is 79068 safe?
79068 is safer than 44% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $393 per resident a year.
Compare 79068 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 79068. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 79068 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.
79068 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 79068: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 79068: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 79068: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 79068: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
79068 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.