Best Places79359, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 79359, 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.
79359 ranks 25,788th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 79359
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.
79359's strengths and weaknesses
Where 79359 ranks high
- Short commute17.6 minutes each way, better than 92% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 80% of zip codes
Where 79359 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
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 79359
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 79359 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,505, 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 79359's effective rate of 1.53%, 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 79359
79359 runs younger than the country, 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 79359.
Who works in 79359, and how
Work in 79359 centers on mining & oil & gas and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 79359
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 79359.
What the weather is like in 79359, month by month
79359 sees roughly 123 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 79359
The nearest airport, Lea County Regional, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 273 miles away.
The best schools in and around 79359
Schools across 79359 average a C, better than 27% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Grove ElD+ · 23% proficient
- Plains ElD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Seminole J HB · 46% proficient
- Plains MiddleC · 33% proficient
- William G Gravitt J HC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Plains H SB · 47% proficient
- Denver City H SB− · 43% proficient
- Seminole H SB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 79359 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
79359 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 79359 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 79359
Is 79359 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 79359 ranks 25,788th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on short commutes, low taxes, and a stable housing market, 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 79359 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $152,454. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $63,505 median income, cost of living beats 52% of zip codes.
Is 79359 safe?
79359 is safer than 19% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $558 per resident a year.
Compare 79359 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 79359. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 79359 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.
79359 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 79359: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 79359: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 79359: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 79359: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
79359 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.