Best PlacesDawson County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dawson 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.
Dawson County ranks 2,095th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dawson 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.
Dawson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dawson County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of counties
Where Dawson County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 1% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dawson County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dawson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,823, 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 Dawson County's effective rate of 1.58%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dawson County
Dawson County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dawson County.
Who works in Dawson County, and how
Work in Dawson County centers on mining & oil & gas and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Dawson County
Dawson County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 86% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dawson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dawson County growing, and who is moving in?
Dawson County has lost about 12% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Cooke County, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dawson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dawson County, month by month
Dawson County sees roughly 121 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 42° | 30° |
| April | 81° | 63° | 48° |
| July | 96° | 82° | 69° |
| October | 79° | 63° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Dawson County
The nearest airport, Midland International Air And Space Port, is about 57 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 285 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dawson County
Schools across Dawson County average a C, better than 47% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Seminole ElB+ · 55% proficient
- Tahoka ElB− · 42% proficient
- Stanton ElC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Seminole H SB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dawson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dawson 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 Dawson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Dawson County
Is Dawson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dawson County ranks 2,095th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, a stable housing market, and clean air, and lowest on tree cover and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dawson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $139,334. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $67,823 median income, cost of living beats 67% of counties.
Is Dawson County safe?
Dawson County is safer than 16% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $649 per resident a year.
Compare Dawson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dawson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dawson 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.
Dawson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dawson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dawson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dawson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dawson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dawson 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.