Best Places79563, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 79563, 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.
79563 ranks 29,762nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 79563
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.
79563's strengths and weaknesses
Where 79563 ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$571 a month, better than 87% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 84% of zip codes
Where 79563 ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Household income$50,306 median, better than only 11% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 79563
A household needs to earn about $22,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 79563 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,306, 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 79563's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 79563
79563 runs older 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 79563.
Who works in 79563, and how
Work in 79563 centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 79563
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 79563.
What the weather is like in 79563, month by month
79563 sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 44° | 33° |
| April | 80° | 65° | 53° |
| July | 98° | 85° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 55° |
Flying in and out of 79563
The nearest airport, Abilene Regional, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around 79563
Schools across 79563 average a C+, better than 48% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Merkel ElB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Merkel MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Merkel H SC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 79563 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
79563 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 79563 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 79563
Is 79563 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 79563 ranks 29,762nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on clean air, low taxes, and affordable childcare, and lowest on tree cover and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 79563 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $83,818. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $50,306 median income, cost of living beats 15% of zip codes.
Is 79563 safe?
79563 is safer than 7% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $813 per resident a year.
Compare 79563 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 79563. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 79563 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.
79563 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 79563: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 79563: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 79563: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 79563: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
79563 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.