Best PlacesAustin, NV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Austin, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Austin ranks 17,097th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Austin
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.
Austin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Austin ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of towns
Where Austin ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Austin
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Austin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $119,706, 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 Austin's effective rate of 0.80%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Austin
Austin's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Austin.
Who works in Austin, and how
Work in Austin centers on public administration and mining & oil & gas. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 22%
Life in Austin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Austin.
What the weather is like in Austin, month by month
Austin sees roughly 142 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 29° | 14° |
| April | 64° | 44° | 23° |
| July | 92° | 70° | 45° |
| October | 67° | 42° | 20° |
Flying in and out of Austin
The nearest airport, Elko Regional, is about 122 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 246 miles away.
The best schools in and around Austin
Schools across Austin average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eureka Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Battle Mountain Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Gabbs Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gabbs Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Eleanor Lemaire Junior High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Eureka County High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Battle Mountain High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Churchill County High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Austin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Austin 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 Austin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Austin
Is Austin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Austin ranks 17,097th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, clean air, and heat safety, and lowest on crime and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Austin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $253,276. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $119,706 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is Austin safe?
Austin is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $883 per resident a year.
Compare Austin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Austin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Austin 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.
Austin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Austin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Austin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Austin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Austin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Austin 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.