Best PlacesCircle, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Circle, 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.
Circle ranks 26,169th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Circle
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.
Circle's strengths and weaknesses
Where Circle ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap childcare$574 a month, better than 81% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
Where Circle ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Short commute36.0 minutes each way, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Circle
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Circle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,897, 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 Circle's effective rate of 0.50%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Circle
Circle runs older than the country, 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 Circle.
Who works in Circle, and how
Work in Circle centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Circle
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Circle.
What the weather is like in Circle, month by month
Circle sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 48° | 41° |
| April | 76° | 66° | 58° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 79° | 68° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Circle
The nearest airport, East Texas Regional, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 128 miles away.
The best schools in and around Circle
Schools across Circle average a C, better than 41% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cushing ElC+ · 37% proficient
- Rusk IntC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Rusk H SB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Circle school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Circle 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 Circle against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Circle
Is Circle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Circle ranks 26,169th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, quiet, and fast internet, and lowest on biking and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Circle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $200,619. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $82,897 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Circle safe?
Circle is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $497 per resident a year.
Compare Circle with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Circle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Circle 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.
Circle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Circle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Circle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Circle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Circle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Circle 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.