Best PlacesBrazos County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Brazos County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Brazos County ranks 769th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on population health and an educated workforce. The weaker spots are civic engagement, thin health care access, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Brazos 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.
Brazos County's strengths and weaknesses
Brazos County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Population health, an educated workforce, and biking carry most of that.
The one real hole is civic engagement, near the bottom of the country. Thin health care access and property taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Brazos County ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of counties
- BikingBetter than 91% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
Where Brazos County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 16% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Brazos County
A household needs to earn about $87,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brazos County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $67,536, 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 Brazos County's effective rate of 1.34%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Brazos County
Brazos County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Brazos County.
Who works in Brazos County, and how
Work in Brazos County centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Brazos County
Brazos County has more parkland per resident than 68% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 80% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Brazos County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Brazos County growing, and who is moving in?
Brazos County has grown about 20% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Houston, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Brazos County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Brazos County, month by month
Brazos County sees roughly 109 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 81° | 69° | 60° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 85° | 72° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Brazos County
The nearest airport, Easterwood Field, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Brazos County
Schools across Brazos County average a B−, better than 70% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Forest RidgeA+ · 77% proficient
- Spring Creek ElA− · 58% proficient
- Greens Prairie ElA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wellborn MiddleA · 67% proficient
- Pecan Trail IntA · 59% proficient
- College Station MiddleA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- College Station H SA · 71% proficient
- A & M Cons H SA · 67% proficient
- Bryan Collegiate H SA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brazos County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brazos 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 Brazos County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Brazos County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Brazos County
Is Brazos County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brazos County ranks 769th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on population health, an educated workforce, and biking, and lowest on civic engagement and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Brazos County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $311,118. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $67,536 median income, cost of living beats 42% of counties.
Is Brazos County safe?
Yes, Brazos County is safer than 68% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $370 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Brazos County?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 63 with lows near 43. That works out to about 109 pleasant days a year, more than 67% of counties.
Is Brazos County good for families?
Schools beat 70% of counties, crime safety beats 68%, and childcare runs $707 a month.
Is Brazos County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 42% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 84% of counties. About 11% of workers already work from home.
Compare Brazos County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brazos County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brazos 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.
Brazos County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brazos County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brazos County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brazos County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brazos County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brazos 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.