Best PlacesDeaf Smith County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Deaf Smith 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.
Deaf Smith County ranks 2,128th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Deaf Smith 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.
Deaf Smith County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Deaf Smith County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of counties
- Short commute16.6 minutes each way, better than 92% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 133 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of counties
Where Deaf Smith County ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Deaf Smith County
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Deaf Smith County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,958, 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 Deaf Smith County's effective rate of 1.48%, 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 Deaf Smith County
Deaf Smith County runs younger 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 Deaf Smith County.
Who works in Deaf Smith County, and how
Work in Deaf Smith County centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Deaf Smith County
Deaf Smith County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Deaf Smith County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Deaf Smith County growing, and who is moving in?
Deaf Smith County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from San Angelo, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Deaf Smith County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Deaf Smith County, month by month
Deaf Smith County sees roughly 133 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 38° | 24° |
| April | 77° | 58° | 42° |
| July | 96° | 81° | 67° |
| October | 77° | 60° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Deaf Smith County
The nearest airport, Rick Husband Amarillo International, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 239 miles away.
The best schools in and around Deaf Smith County
Schools across Deaf Smith County average a C+, better than 44% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Vega ElA · 65% proficient
- Bushland ElA− · 60% proficient
- Northwest ElB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Vega J HA− · 53% proficient
- San Jon Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Hereford Preparatory AcademyB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Vega H SA · 70% proficient
- Friona H SB+ · 57% proficient
- Hereford H SC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Deaf Smith County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Deaf Smith 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 Deaf Smith County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Deaf Smith County
Is Deaf Smith County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Deaf Smith County ranks 2,128th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, short commutes, and walkability, and lowest on education levels and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Deaf Smith County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $137,523. The overall cost of living runs about 27% below the national average. Set against a $67,958 median income, cost of living beats 72% of counties.
Is Deaf Smith County safe?
Deaf Smith County is safer than 13% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $596 per resident a year.
Compare Deaf Smith County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Deaf Smith County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Deaf Smith 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.
Deaf Smith County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Deaf Smith County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Deaf Smith County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Deaf Smith County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Deaf Smith County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Deaf Smith 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.