Best PlacesEl Oso, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around El Oso, 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.
El Oso ranks 11,574th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in El Oso
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 Oso's strengths and weaknesses
Where El Oso ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 183 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of towns
- Household income$160,099 median, better than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- QuietBetter than 88% of towns
Where El Oso ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in El Oso
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median El Oso home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $160,099, 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 El Oso's effective rate of 0.45%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in El Oso
El Oso runs older 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 El Oso.
Who works in El Oso, and how
Work in El Oso centers on education and admin & support services. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in El Oso
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across El Oso.
What the weather is like in El Oso, month by month
El Oso sees roughly 183 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 55° | 45° |
| April | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| July | 96° | 84° | 75° |
| October | 87° | 74° | 64° |
Flying in and out of El Oso
San Antonio International sits about 61 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.3 million passengers in 2025, with 87 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around El Oso
Schools across El Oso average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kenedy ElD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kenedy MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Kenedy H SC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every El Oso school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
El Oso 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 Oso against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in El Oso
Is El Oso a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, El Oso ranks 11,574th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, the weather, and high incomes, 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 El Oso expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $245,136. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $160,099 median income, cost of living beats 100% of towns.
Is El Oso safe?
El Oso is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $542 per resident a year.
Compare El Oso with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to El Oso. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in El Oso 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 Oso detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for El Oso: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in El Oso: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of El Oso: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in El Oso: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
El Oso 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.