Best PlacesEl Lago, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around El Lago, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
El Lago ranks 24,764th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in El Lago
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.
El Lago's strengths and weaknesses
Where El Lago ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of towns
Where El Lago ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 15% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in El Lago
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median El Lago home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $67,263, 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 El Lago's effective rate of 1.98%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in El Lago
El Lago runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 El Lago.
Who works in El Lago, and how
Work in El Lago centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in El Lago
The coast is about 4 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across El Lago, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in El Lago, month by month
El Lago sees roughly 142 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 48. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 55° | 48° |
| April | 79° | 71° | 63° |
| July | 93° | 84° | 78° |
| October | 82° | 73° | 66° |
Flying in and out of El Lago
William P Hobby sits about 15 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 6.8 million passengers in 2025, with 101 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around El Lago
Schools across El Lago average an A−, better than 81% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- G W RobinsonB+ · 53% proficient
- Ed H White ElB · 48% proficient
- Bay ElB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Seabrook IntA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Clear Falls H SA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every El Lago school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
El Lago 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 El Lago against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in El Lago
Is El Lago a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, El Lago ranks 24,764th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, population health, and low taxes, and lowest on disaster risk and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is El Lago expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $280,881. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $67,263 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is El Lago safe?
Yes, El Lago is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $324 per resident a year.
Compare El Lago with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to El Lago. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in El Lago 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.
El Lago detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for El Lago: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in El Lago: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of El Lago: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in El Lago: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
El Lago 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.