Best PlacesDonna, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Donna, 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.
Donna ranks 2,092nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Donna
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.
Donna's strengths and weaknesses
Where Donna ranks high
- Cheap childcare$664 a month, better than 92% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 191 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of cities
- QuietBetter than 84% of cities
Where Donna ranks low
- Household income$43,475 median, better than only 1% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 2% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Donna
A household needs to earn about $27,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Donna home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $43,475, 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 Donna's effective rate of 1.56%, 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 Donna
Donna 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 Donna.
Who works in Donna, and how
Work in Donna centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Donna
Donna has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of cities and more parkland per resident than 76% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Donna and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Donna, month by month
Donna sees roughly 191 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 73, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 73° | 60° | 51° |
| April | 87° | 76° | 68° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 77° |
| October | 89° | 76° | 67° |
Flying in and out of Donna
The nearest airport, McAllen International, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 232 miles away.
The best schools in and around Donna
Schools across Donna average a D−, better than 2% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Memorial ElB · 45% proficient
- Idea AcademyD+ · 24% proficient
- John F Kennedy ElD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Beatriz G Garza MiddleC · 31% proficient
- Betty Harwell MiddleD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Weslaco H SC · 34% proficient
- Idea College PrepC · 34% proficient
- Economedes H SD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Donna school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Donna 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 Donna against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Donna suits
Common questions about living in Donna
Is Donna a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Donna ranks 2,092nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, the weather, and low taxes, and lowest on low incomes 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 Donna expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $93,750. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $43,475 median income, cost of living beats 2% of cities.
Is Donna safe?
Donna is safer than 22% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $484 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Donna?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 73 with lows near 51. That works out to about 191 pleasant days a year, more than 90% of cities.
Is Donna good for families?
Schools beat 2% of cities, crime safety beats 22%, and childcare runs $664 a month.
Compare Donna with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Donna. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Donna 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.
Donna detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Donna: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Donna: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Donna: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Donna: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Donna 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.
- 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.