Best PlacesBlanco Gardens, San Marcos, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Blanco Gardens, San Marcos, 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.
Blanco Gardens, San Marcos ranks 5,774th 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 Blanco Gardens, San Marcos
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.
Blanco Gardens, San Marcos' strengths and weaknesses
Where Blanco Gardens, San Marcos ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 85% of neighborhoods
Where Blanco Gardens, San Marcos ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Blanco Gardens, San Marcos
A household needs to earn about $19,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Blanco Gardens, San Marcos home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $43,300, 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 Blanco Gardens, San Marcos' effective rate of 1.06%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Blanco Gardens, San Marcos
Blanco Gardens, San Marcos runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Blanco Gardens, San Marcos.
Who works in Blanco Gardens, San Marcos, and how
Work in Blanco Gardens, San Marcos centers on retail trade and hospitality & food. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Blanco Gardens, San Marcos
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Blanco Gardens, San Marcos.
What the weather is like in Blanco Gardens, San Marcos, month by month
Blanco Gardens, San Marcos sees roughly 151 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 51° | 41° |
| April | 82° | 69° | 58° |
| July | 97° | 84° | 74° |
| October | 85° | 71° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Blanco Gardens, San Marcos
Austin-Bergstrom International sits about 27 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 Blanco Gardens, San Marcos
Schools across Blanco Gardens, San Marcos average a D+, better than 21% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Mendez ElF · 9% proficient
Top middle schools
- Miller MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- San Marcos H SC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Blanco Gardens, San Marcos school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Blanco Gardens, San Marcos 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 Blanco Gardens, San Marcos against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Blanco Gardens, San Marcos
Is Blanco Gardens, San Marcos a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Blanco Gardens, San Marcos ranks 5,774th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on state finances, low taxes, and a stable housing market, and lowest on disaster risk and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Blanco Gardens, San Marcos expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $70,907. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $43,300 median income, cost of living beats 13% of neighborhoods.
Is Blanco Gardens, San Marcos safe?
Blanco Gardens, San Marcos is safer than 48% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $553 per resident a year.
Compare Blanco Gardens, San Marcos with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Blanco Gardens, San Marcos. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Blanco Gardens, San Marcos 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.
Blanco Gardens, San Marcos detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Blanco Gardens, San Marcos: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Blanco Gardens, San Marcos: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Blanco Gardens, San Marcos: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Blanco Gardens, San Marcos: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Blanco Gardens, San Marcos 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.