Best Places79088, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 79088, 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.
79088 ranks 30,795th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 79088
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.
79088's strengths and weaknesses
Where 79088 ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 136 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of zip codes
- Short commute20.5 minutes each way, better than 83% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 80% of zip codes
Where 79088 ranks low
- Household income$40,169 median, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 79088
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 79088 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $40,169, 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 79088's effective rate of 1.66%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 79088
79088 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 79088.
Who works in 79088, and how
Work in 79088 centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in 79088
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 79088.
What the weather is like in 79088, month by month
79088 sees roughly 136 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 36° | 24° |
| April | 75° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 93° | 79° | 66° |
| October | 75° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 79088
The nearest airport, Rick Husband Amarillo International, is about 47 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 277 miles away.
The best schools in and around 79088
Schools across 79088 average a D+, better than 17% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
Top middle schools
- Tulia J HC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 79088 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
79088 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 79088 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 79088
Is 79088 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 79088 ranks 30,795th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low taxes, the weather, and short commutes, and lowest on low incomes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 79088 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $79,015. The overall cost of living runs about 26% below the national average. Set against a $40,169 median income, cost of living beats 8% of zip codes.
Is 79088 safe?
79088 is safer than 9% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $761 per resident a year.
Compare 79088 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 79088. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 79088 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.
79088 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 79088: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 79088: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 79088: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 79088: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
79088 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.