Best PlacesComal County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Comal County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Comal County ranks 135th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $111,159, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are summer heat, long commutes, and air quality.
The best neighborhoods in Comal 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.
The best areas in Comal County
The parts of Comal County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Garden Ridge
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Bulverde
It is quieter and more households have young kids.
Spring Branch
Crime runs lower, though commutes are longer.
Canyon Lake
More homes sit empty and heat risk is higher.
New Braunfels
Prices have run up more and tree cover is thinner.
Comal County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 13% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Comal County's strengths and weaknesses
Comal County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. A strong job market is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. What local pay buys and high incomes follow.
The one real hole is summer heat, near the bottom of the country. Long commutes and air quality also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Comal County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of counties
- Household income$111,159 median, better than 95% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of counties
Where Comal County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Short commute30.8 minutes each way, better than only 12% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 26% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 26% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 27% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Comal County
A household needs to earn about $122,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Comal County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $111,159; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Comal County's effective rate of 1.06%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Comal County
Comal County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Comal County.
Who works in Comal County, and how
Work in Comal County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Comal County
Comal County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Comal County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Comal County growing, and who is moving in?
Comal County has grown about 64% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the San Antonio, TX metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Comal County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Comal County, month by month
Comal County sees roughly 145 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 66, 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 | 66° | 52° | 41° |
| April | 84° | 70° | 59° |
| July | 98° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 86° | 72° | 61° |
Flying in and out of Comal County
San Antonio International sits about 22 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.3 million passengers in 2025, with 87 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Comal County
Schools across Comal County average a B+, better than 90% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hoffmann Lane ElA+ · 79% proficient
- Arlon R Seay ElA · 65% proficient
- Johnson Ranch ElA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Smithson Valley MiddleA+ · 68% proficient
- Spring Branch MiddleA · 66% proficient
- Boerne Middle SouthA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- Memorial Early College H S With St Philip'sA+ · 82% proficient
- Boerne - Samuel V Champion H SA · 75% proficient
- Smithson Valley H SA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Comal County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Comal 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 Comal County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Comal County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Comal County
Is Comal County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Comal County ranks 135th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, what local pay buys, and high incomes, and lowest on summer heat and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Comal County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $450,369. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $111,159 median income, cost of living beats 98% of counties.
Is Comal County safe?
Yes, Comal County is safer than 77% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $338 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Comal County?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 41. That works out to about 145 pleasant days a year, more than 90% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Comal County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Garden Ridge, Bulverde, and Spring Branch. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Comal County good for families?
Schools beat 90% of counties, crime safety beats 77%, and childcare runs $783 a month.
Is Comal County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 77% of counties. About 19% of workers already work from home.
Compare Comal County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Comal County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Comal 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.
Comal County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Comal County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Comal County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Comal County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Comal County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Comal 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.