Best PlacesBastrop County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bastrop County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bastrop County ranks 1,024th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bastrop County
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.
The best areas in Bastrop County
The parts of Bastrop County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Bastrop
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and health care is easier to reach.
Elgin
More households have young kids and fewer homes sit empty.
Smithville
Commutes are shorter, though heat risk is higher.
Cedar Creek & Del Valle
Scores close to Smithville, except that incomes run higher here.
Paige
More residents vote, though homes cost more.
Camp Swift
Crime runs lower.
Red Rock
It is quieter and tree cover is thicker.
Bastrop County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 5% of the country and others in the top 7%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Bastrop County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bastrop County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 147 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of counties
Where Bastrop County ranks low
- Short commute35.4 minutes each way, better than only 3% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 11% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bastrop County
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bastrop County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $85,807; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Bastrop County's effective rate of 1.23%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bastrop County
Bastrop County'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 Bastrop County.
Who works in Bastrop County, and how
Work in Bastrop County centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Bastrop County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bastrop County.
Is Bastrop County growing, and who is moving in?
Bastrop County has grown about 48% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Austin, TX metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bastrop County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bastrop County, month by month
Bastrop County sees roughly 147 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 50° | 38° |
| April | 83° | 68° | 56° |
| July | 99° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 86° | 71° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Bastrop County
Austin-Bergstrom International sits about 18 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 10.7 million passengers in 2025, with 127 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Bastrop County
Schools across Bastrop County average a C−, better than 26% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lexington ElB+ · 51% proficient
- Mina ElB · 47% proficient
- Smithville ElB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lexington MiddleB− · 43% proficient
- Smithville J HB− · 42% proficient
- Bastrop MiddleC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Colorado River Collegiate AcademyA · 72% proficient
- Lexington H SB · 47% proficient
- Smithville H SB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bastrop County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bastrop County 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 Bastrop County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Bastrop County suits
Families
Schools land around the 26th percentile and crime safety beats 58%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Bastrop County
Is Bastrop County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bastrop County ranks 1,024th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, the weather, and low taxes, and lowest on long commutes and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bastrop County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $325,534. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $85,807 median income, cost of living beats 89% of counties.
Is Bastrop County safe?
Yes, Bastrop County is safer than 58% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $375 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bastrop County?
July highs average about 99 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 38. That works out to about 147 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Bastrop County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Bastrop, Elgin, and Smithville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Bastrop County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bastrop County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bastrop County 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.
Bastrop County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bastrop County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bastrop County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bastrop County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bastrop County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bastrop County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.