Best PlacesDresden, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dresden, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dresden ranks 18,098th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dresden
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.
Dresden's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dresden ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 138 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of towns
- QuietBetter than 82% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
Where Dresden ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of towns
- Short commute35.5 minutes each way, better than only 13% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dresden
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dresden home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,324, 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 Dresden's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dresden
Dresden 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 Dresden.
Who works in Dresden, and how
Work in Dresden centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Dresden
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dresden.
What the weather is like in Dresden, month by month
Dresden sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 39° |
| April | 78° | 67° | 57° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Dresden
The nearest airport, Waco Regional, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 57 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dresden
Schools across Dresden average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Blooming Grove ElC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Blooming Grove JhB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Blooming Grove H SB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dresden school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dresden 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 Dresden against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dresden
Is Dresden a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dresden ranks 18,098th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, the weather, and big-city access, and lowest on summer heat and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dresden expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $159,894. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $90,324 median income, cost of living beats 79% of towns.
Is Dresden safe?
Yes, Dresden is safer than 66% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $308 per resident a year.
Compare Dresden with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dresden. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dresden 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.
Dresden detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dresden: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dresden: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dresden: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dresden: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dresden 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.