Best PlacesBee County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bee County, 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.
Bee County ranks 2,604th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bee 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.
Bee County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bee County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 182 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of counties
- Cheap childcare$572 a month, better than 76% of counties
Where Bee County ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bee County
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bee County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,511, 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 Bee County's effective rate of 1.29%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bee County
Bee County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bee County.
Who works in Bee County, and how
Work in Bee County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Bee County
Bee County has less parkland per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Bee County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Bee County growing, and who is moving in?
Bee County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Houston, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bee County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bee County, month by month
Bee County sees roughly 182 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 55° | 45° |
| April | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| July | 96° | 84° | 75° |
| October | 87° | 74° | 64° |
Flying in and out of Bee County
The nearest airport, Corpus Christi International, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bee County
Schools across Bee County average a D+, better than 19% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Three Rivers ElB · 50% proficient
- R A Hall ElC+ · 36% proficient
- Mathis IntC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Skidmore-tynan J HB− · 42% proficient
- Goliad MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Refugio J HC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Skidmore-tynan H SB · 47% proficient
- Refugio H SB · 47% proficient
- Three Rivers Jr/sr H SC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bee County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bee 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 Bee County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Bee County suits
Common questions about living in Bee County
Is Bee County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bee County ranks 2,604th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, a stable housing market, and low taxes, and lowest on thin health care access and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bee County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $135,769. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $68,511 median income, cost of living beats 25% of counties.
Is Bee County safe?
Bee County is safer than 7% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $742 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bee County?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 45. That works out to about 182 pleasant days a year, more than 98% of counties.
Is Bee County good for families?
Schools beat 19% of counties, crime safety beats 7%, and childcare runs $572 a month.
Compare Bee County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bee County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bee 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.
Bee County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bee County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bee County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bee County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bee County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bee 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.