Best PlacesBrays Oaks, Houston, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Brays Oaks, Houston, 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.
Brays Oaks, Houston ranks 5,567th 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 Brays Oaks, Houston
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.
Brays Oaks, Houston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Brays Oaks, Houston ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$842 a month, better than 83% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 83% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 78% of neighborhoods
Where Brays Oaks, Houston ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD−, better than only 11% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Brays Oaks, Houston
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brays Oaks, Houston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $48,636, 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 Brays Oaks, Houston's effective rate of 1.24%, 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 Brays Oaks, Houston
Brays Oaks, Houston runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Brays Oaks, Houston.
Who works in Brays Oaks, Houston, and how
Work in Brays Oaks, Houston centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Brays Oaks, Houston
The coast is about 35 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Brays Oaks, Houston, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Brays Oaks, Houston, month by month
Brays Oaks, Houston sees roughly 133 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 55° | 46° |
| April | 82° | 71° | 62° |
| July | 95° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 85° | 73° | 63° |
Flying in and out of Brays Oaks, Houston
William P Hobby sits about 15 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 Brays Oaks, Houston
Schools across Brays Oaks, Houston average a D−, better than 11% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Smith ElD+ · 25% proficient
- Cummings ElD+ · 23% proficient
- Bell ElD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mata IntD− · 17% proficient
- Fondren MiddleD− · 14% proficient
- Welch MiddleD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Kerr H SA+ · 85% proficient
- Yes Prep - Brays OaksC · 31% proficient
- Westbury H SD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brays Oaks, Houston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brays Oaks, Houston 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 Brays Oaks, Houston against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Brays Oaks, Houston
Is Brays Oaks, Houston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brays Oaks, Houston ranks 5,567th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on state finances, low taxes, and affordable childcare, 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 Brays Oaks, Houston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $256,315. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $48,636 median income, cost of living beats 22% of neighborhoods.
Is Brays Oaks, Houston safe?
Brays Oaks, Houston is safer than 18% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $844 per resident a year.
Compare Brays Oaks, Houston with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brays Oaks, Houston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brays Oaks, Houston 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.
Brays Oaks, Houston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brays Oaks, Houston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brays Oaks, Houston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brays Oaks, Houston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brays Oaks, Houston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brays Oaks, Houston 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.