Best PlacesBig Bend National Park, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Big Bend National Park, 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.
Big Bend National Park ranks 38,758th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Big Bend National Park
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.
Big Bend National Park's strengths and weaknesses
Where Big Bend National Park ranks high
- Short commute8.1 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 185 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
Where Big Bend National Park ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Big Bend National Park
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Big Bend National Park home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $50,599, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Big Bend National Park's effective rate of 0.70%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park runs younger 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 Big Bend National Park.
Who works in Big Bend National Park, and how
Work in Big Bend National Park centers on arts & entertainment and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Big Bend National Park and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Big Bend National Park, month by month
Big Bend National Park sees roughly 185 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs February through April, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 49° | 36° |
| April | 88° | 71° | 56° |
| July | 97° | 84° | 71° |
| October | 84° | 69° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Big Bend National Park
The nearest airport, Del Rio International, is about 135 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 283 miles away.
The best schools in and around Big Bend National Park
Schools across Big Bend National Park average a C−, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fort Stockton Alamo ElC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fort Stockton MiddleD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Fort Stockton HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Big Bend National Park school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Big Bend National Park 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 Big Bend National Park against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Big Bend National Park
Is Big Bend National Park a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Big Bend National Park ranks 38,758th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, the weather, and quiet, and lowest on distance from a big city and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Big Bend National Park expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $225,130. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $50,599 median income, cost of living beats 15% of towns.
Is Big Bend National Park safe?
Big Bend National Park is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $853 per resident a year.
Compare Big Bend National Park with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Big Bend National Park. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Big Bend National Park 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.
Big Bend National Park detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Big Bend National Park: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Big Bend National Park: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Big Bend National Park: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Big Bend National Park: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Big Bend National Park 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.