Best PlacesDickens County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dickens 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.
Dickens County ranks 2,615th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dickens 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.
Dickens County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dickens County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of counties
- QuietBetter than 94% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 125 pleasant days a year, better than 78% of counties
Where Dickens County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Household income$48,811 median, better than only 7% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dickens County
A household needs to earn about $19,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dickens County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,811, 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 Dickens County's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dickens County
Dickens 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 Dickens County.
Who works in Dickens County, and how
Work in Dickens County centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Dickens County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dickens County.
Is Dickens County growing, and who is moving in?
Dickens County has lost about 22% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Lubbock, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dickens County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dickens County, month by month
Dickens County sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 42° | 32° |
| April | 79° | 64° | 52° |
| July | 96° | 84° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Dickens County
The nearest airport, Lubbock Preston Smith International, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 225 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dickens County
Schools across Dickens County average a B−, better than 66% of counties.
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dickens County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dickens 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 Dickens County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Dickens County
Is Dickens County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dickens County ranks 2,615th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, clean air, and quiet, and lowest on crime and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dickens County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $73,244. The overall cost of living runs about 28% below the national average. Set against a $48,811 median income, cost of living beats 24% of counties.
Is Dickens County safe?
Dickens County is safer than 2% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $952 per resident a year.
Compare Dickens County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dickens County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dickens 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.
Dickens County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dickens County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dickens County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dickens County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dickens County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dickens 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.