Best PlacesDenton County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Denton 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.
Denton County ranks 60th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $126,950, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are property taxes, noise, and civic engagement.
The best neighborhoods in Denton 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 Denton County
The parts of Denton 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.
Frisco & The Colony
Incomes run higher, more adults hold degrees, and local pay stretches further.
Roanoke, Trophy Club & Justin
Schools score higher and more residents vote.
Little Elm & Prosper
More households have young kids, though commutes are longer.
Argyle
Crime runs lower, though biking is worse.
Carrollton & Dallas
Transit reaches more jobs.
Corinth, Highland Village & Lake Dallas
Tree cover is thicker.
Aubrey & Pilot Point
It is quieter.
Lewisville & Flower Mound
Streets are more walkable.
Denton
Homes cost less, though health care is harder to reach.
Denton County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Denton County's strengths and weaknesses
Denton County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. What local pay buys is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. High incomes and population health follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Property taxes, noise, and civic engagement hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Denton County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$126,950 median, better than 98% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 96% of counties
Where Denton County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 15% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 20% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Denton County
A household needs to earn about $133,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Denton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $126,950; 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 Denton County's effective rate of 1.45%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Denton County
Denton County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Denton County.
Who works in Denton County, and how
Work in Denton County centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Denton County
Denton County has more parkland per resident than 73% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 79% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Denton County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Denton County growing, and who is moving in?
Denton County has grown about 39% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Dallas, TX metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Denton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Denton County, month by month
Denton County sees roughly 145 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 44° | 33° |
| April | 77° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 97° | 86° | 75° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Denton County
Dallas-Fort Worth International sits about 15 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 41.3 million passengers in 2025, with 289 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Denton County
Schools across Denton County average a B, better than 78% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Nichols ElA+ · 76% proficient
- Liberty ElA+ · 72% proficient
- Samuel Beck ElA+ · 72% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pioneer Heritage MiddleA+ · 83% proficient
- Mckamy MiddleA+ · 80% proficient
- Pearson MiddleA+ · 77% proficient
Top high schools
- Wakeland H SA+ · 89% proficient
- Reedy H SA+ · 86% proficient
- Flower Mound H SA+ · 86% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Denton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Denton 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 Denton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Denton County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 24% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Denton County
Is Denton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Denton County ranks 60th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and population health, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Denton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $466,501. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $126,950 median income, cost of living beats 99% of counties.
Is Denton County safe?
Yes, Denton County is safer than 75% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $328 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Denton County?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 33. That works out to about 145 pleasant days a year, more than 90% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Denton County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Frisco & The Colony, Roanoke, Trophy Club & Justin, and Little Elm & Prosper. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Denton County good for families?
Schools beat 78% of counties, crime safety beats 75%, and childcare runs $863 a month.
Is Denton County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 96% of counties. About 24% of workers already work from home.
Compare Denton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Denton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Denton 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.
Denton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Denton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Denton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Denton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Denton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Denton 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.