Best PlacesEctor County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ector 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.
Ector County ranks 1,490th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on thin health care access and civic engagement. It does better on cell coverage, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Ector 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.
Ector County's strengths and weaknesses
Ector County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Cell coverage is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. The weather and low taxes follow.
The one real hole is thin health care access, near the bottom of the country. Civic engagement and tree cover also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Ector County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 177 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- BikingBetter than 87% of counties
- TransitBetter than 86% of counties
Where Ector County ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 3% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ector County
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ector County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,777, 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 Ector County's effective rate of 1.22%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ector County
Ector County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ector County.
Who works in Ector County, and how
Work in Ector County centers on mining & oil & gas and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ector County
Ector County has more late-night spots per resident than 70% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Ector County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ector County growing, and who is moving in?
Ector County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Midland, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ector County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ector County, month by month
Ector County sees roughly 177 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 45° | 34° |
| April | 83° | 66° | 53° |
| July | 97° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Ector County
The nearest airport, Midland International Air And Space Port, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 283 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ector County
Schools across Ector County average a C, better than 35% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- El Magnet At Reagan ElA+ · 84% proficient
- El Magnet At HaysB · 45% proficient
- San Jacinto ElC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nimitz MiddleC · 34% proficient
- Wilson & Young Medal Of Honor MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- Crockett MiddleD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Odessa Collegiate Academy Early College H SB+ · 57% proficient
- George H W Bush New Tech OdessaB+ · 55% proficient
- Odessa Career And Technical Early College H SB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ector County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ector 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 Ector County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Ector County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 76% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 4% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Ector County
Is Ector County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ector County ranks 1,490th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, the weather, and low taxes, and lowest on thin health care access and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ector County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $211,955. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $78,777 median income, cost of living beats 76% of counties.
Is Ector County safe?
Ector County is safer than 14% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $604 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ector County?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 34. That works out to about 177 pleasant days a year, more than 98% of counties.
Is Ector County good for families?
Schools beat 35% of counties, crime safety beats 14%, and childcare runs $706 a month.
Is Ector County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 76% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 81% of counties. About 4% of workers already work from home.
Compare Ector County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ector County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ector 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.
Ector County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ector County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ector County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ector County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ector County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ector 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.