Best PlacesCottle County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cottle County, 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.
Cottle County ranks 2,564th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cottle 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.
Cottle County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cottle County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Short commute17.8 minutes each way, better than 88% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 132 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 81% of counties
Where Cottle County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of counties
- Household income$49,402 median, better than only 7% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cottle County
A household needs to earn about $17,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cottle County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,402, 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 Cottle County's effective rate of 1.15%, 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 Cottle County
Cottle County runs older than the country, 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 Cottle County.
Who works in Cottle County, and how
Work in Cottle County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Cottle County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cottle County.
Is Cottle County growing, and who is moving in?
Cottle County has lost about 12% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Dallas, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cottle County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cottle County, month by month
Cottle County sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 41° | 30° |
| April | 79° | 62° | 49° |
| July | 98° | 85° | 73° |
| October | 79° | 64° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Cottle County
The nearest airport, Lubbock Preston Smith International, is about 91 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 204 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cottle County
Schools across Cottle County average a C+, better than 44% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Childress ElB · 46% proficient
- Reagan ElC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Childress J HB · 46% proficient
- Travis MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Quanah H SB+ · 57% proficient
- Childress H SB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cottle County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cottle 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 Cottle County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Cottle County
Is Cottle County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cottle County ranks 2,564th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, low taxes, and short commutes, and lowest on a weak job market and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cottle County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $63,259. The overall cost of living runs about 29% below the national average. Set against a $49,402 median income, cost of living beats 29% of counties.
Is Cottle County safe?
Cottle County is safer than 10% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $638 per resident a year.
Compare Cottle County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cottle County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cottle 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.
Cottle County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cottle County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cottle County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cottle County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cottle County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cottle 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.