Best PlacesBayou Shore, Galveston, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bayou Shore, Galveston, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bayou Shore, Galveston ranks 4,740th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. Disaster risk pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Bayou Shore, Galveston
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.
Bayou Shore, Galveston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bayou Shore, Galveston ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 85% of neighborhoods
- School gradeB+, better than 84% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$842 a month, better than 83% of neighborhoods
Where Bayou Shore, Galveston ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Bayou Shore, Galveston
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bayou Shore, Galveston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $61,923; 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 Bayou Shore, Galveston's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bayou Shore, Galveston
Bayou Shore, Galveston runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bayou Shore, Galveston.
Who works in Bayou Shore, Galveston, and how
Work in Bayou Shore, Galveston centers on hospitality & food and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Bayou Shore, Galveston
Bayou Shore, Galveston has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 2 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Bayou Shore, Galveston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bayou Shore, Galveston, month by month
Bayou Shore, Galveston sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 57° | 51° |
| April | 78° | 72° | 67° |
| July | 91° | 85° | 81° |
| October | 83° | 76° | 71° |
Flying in and out of Bayou Shore, Galveston
William P Hobby sits about 37 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 6.8 million passengers in 2025, with 101 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Bayou Shore, Galveston
Schools across Bayou Shore, Galveston average a B+, better than 84% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Oppe ElA · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Austin MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Ball H SC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bayou Shore, Galveston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bayou Shore, Galveston 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 Bayou Shore, Galveston against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Bayou Shore, Galveston
Is Bayou Shore, Galveston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bayou Shore, Galveston ranks 4,740th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on state finances, low taxes, and cell coverage, and lowest on disaster risk and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bayou Shore, Galveston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $245,204. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $61,923 median income, cost of living beats 28% of neighborhoods.
Is Bayou Shore, Galveston safe?
Bayou Shore, Galveston is safer than 38% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $636 per resident a year.
Compare Bayou Shore, Galveston with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bayou Shore, Galveston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bayou Shore, Galveston 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.
Bayou Shore, Galveston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bayou Shore, Galveston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bayou Shore, Galveston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bayou Shore, Galveston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bayou Shore, Galveston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bayou Shore, Galveston 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.