Best Places79342, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 79342, 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.
79342 ranks 16,200th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 79342
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.
79342's strengths and weaknesses
Where 79342 ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Household income$123,477 median, better than 91% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of zip codes
Where 79342 ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 9% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 79342
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 79342 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $123,477, 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 79342's effective rate of 1.55%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 79342
79342's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 79342.
Who works in 79342, and how
Work in 79342 centers on agriculture & forestry and mining & oil & gas. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 79342
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 79342.
What the weather is like in 79342, month by month
79342 sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 42° | 30° |
| April | 81° | 63° | 48° |
| July | 96° | 82° | 69° |
| October | 79° | 63° | 50° |
Flying in and out of 79342
The nearest airport, Lea County Regional, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 282 miles away.
The best schools in and around 79342
Schools across 79342 average a C+, better than 42% of zip codes.
Top high schools
- Wellman-union SchoolA− · 50% proficient
- Loop SchoolB+ · 45% proficient
- Seagraves SchoolsC+ · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 79342 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
79342 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 79342 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 79342
Is 79342 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 79342 ranks 16,200th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on what local pay buys, low taxes, and high incomes, and lowest on tree cover and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 79342 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $197,500. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $123,477 median income, cost of living beats 97% of zip codes.
Is 79342 safe?
79342 is safer than 9% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $723 per resident a year.
Compare 79342 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 79342. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 79342 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.
79342 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 79342: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 79342: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 79342: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 79342: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
79342 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.