Best PlacesDuval County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Duval 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.
Duval County ranks 2,983rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Duval 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.
Duval County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Duval County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 187 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of counties
Where Duval County ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Duval County
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Duval County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,821, 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 Duval County's effective rate of 1.07%, 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 Duval County
Duval County runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Duval County.
Who works in Duval County, and how
Work in Duval County centers on health care & social and mining & oil & gas. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Duval County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Duval County.
Is Duval County growing, and who is moving in?
Duval County has lost about 17% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Dallas, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Duval County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Duval County, month by month
Duval County sees roughly 187 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 47. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 57° | 47° |
| April | 87° | 73° | 64° |
| July | 98° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 88° | 74° | 64° |
Flying in and out of Duval County
The nearest airport, Corpus Christi International, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Duval County
Schools across Duval County average a C−, better than 20% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Norman M Thomas ElC− · 28% proficient
- Collins-parr ElC− · 26% proficient
- Ramirez ElD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lucy Aragon J HC− · 28% proficient
- Bernarda Jaime J HD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- San Diego H SC+ · 37% proficient
- Freer H SC− · 27% proficient
- Premont Collegiate H SD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Duval County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Duval 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 Duval County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Duval County
Is Duval County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Duval County ranks 2,983rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, the weather, and low taxes, 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 Duval County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $109,438. The overall cost of living runs about 25% below the national average. Set against a $48,821 median income, cost of living beats 12% of counties.
Is Duval County safe?
Duval County is safer than 7% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $733 per resident a year.
Compare Duval County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Duval County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Duval 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.
Duval County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Duval County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Duval County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Duval County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Duval County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Duval 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.