Best PlacesBrenham, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Brenham, 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.
Brenham ranks 1,260th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Summer heat pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Brenham
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.
Brenham's strengths and weaknesses
Where Brenham ranks high
- Cheap childcare$707 a month, better than 89% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of cities
- QuietBetter than 87% of cities
- Short commute20.1 minutes each way, better than 86% of cities
Where Brenham ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 17% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 19% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Brenham
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brenham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,402, 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 Brenham's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 Brenham
Brenham's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Brenham.
Who works in Brenham, and how
Work in Brenham centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Brenham
Brenham has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Brenham and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Brenham, month by month
Brenham sees roughly 148 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 52° | 44° |
| April | 81° | 70° | 60° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 84° | 72° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Brenham
The nearest airport, Easterwood Field, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Brenham
Schools across Brenham average a B−, better than 55% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Burton ElB+ · 52% proficient
- Brenham ElB− · 44% proficient
- Alton ElB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brenham J HB+ · 49% proficient
- Brenham MiddleB− · 43% proficient
- Navasota J HC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Brenham H SB · 50% proficient
- Burton H SB · 47% proficient
- Navasota H SC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brenham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brenham 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 Brenham against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Brenham suits
Common questions about living in Brenham
Is Brenham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brenham ranks 1,260th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low taxes, and state finances, and lowest on summer heat and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Brenham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $277,739. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $76,402 median income, cost of living beats 46% of cities.
Is Brenham safe?
Brenham is safer than 24% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $491 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Brenham?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 44. That works out to about 148 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of cities.
Is Brenham good for families?
Schools beat 55% of cities, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $707 a month.
Compare Brenham with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brenham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brenham 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.
Brenham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brenham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brenham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brenham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brenham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brenham 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.