Best PlacesEast Congress, Austin, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Congress, Austin, 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.
East Congress, Austin ranks 3,313th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in East Congress, Austin
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.
East Congress, Austin's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Congress, Austin ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
Where East Congress, Austin ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD+, better than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 25% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in East Congress, Austin
A household needs to earn about $149,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Congress, Austin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $82,632, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 East Congress, Austin's effective rate of 1.27%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in East Congress, Austin
East Congress, Austin runs younger 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 East Congress, Austin.
Who works in East Congress, Austin, and how
Work in East Congress, Austin centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in East Congress, Austin
East Congress, Austin has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of East Congress, Austin and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Congress, Austin, month by month
East Congress, Austin sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 50° | 38° |
| April | 83° | 68° | 56° |
| July | 99° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 86° | 71° | 58° |
Flying in and out of East Congress, Austin
Austin-Bergstrom International sits about 6 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 10.7 million passengers in 2025, with 127 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around East Congress, Austin
Schools across East Congress, Austin average a D+, better than 20% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- St Elmo ElD+ · 22% proficient
- Pleasant Hill ElD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lively MiddleC− · 30% proficient
- Bedichek MiddleD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Crockett EchsC · 34% proficient
- Travis Early College H SD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Congress, Austin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Congress, Austin 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 East Congress, Austin against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in East Congress, Austin
Is East Congress, Austin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Congress, Austin ranks 3,313th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on fast internet, state finances, and low taxes, and lowest on noise and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is East Congress, Austin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $534,250. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $82,632 median income, cost of living beats 69% of neighborhoods.
Is East Congress, Austin safe?
East Congress, Austin is safer than 35% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $637 per resident a year.
Compare East Congress, Austin with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Congress, Austin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Congress, Austin 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.
East Congress, Austin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Congress, Austin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Congress, Austin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Congress, Austin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Congress, Austin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Congress, Austin 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.