Best PlacesEllis County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ellis County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ellis County ranks 337th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $103,003, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are long commutes, property taxes, and tree cover.
The best neighborhoods in Ellis 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.
The best areas in Ellis County
The parts of Ellis County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Midlothian
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Red Oak
Health care is easier to reach, though it is noisier.
Palmer
Prices have run up less, though commutes are longer.
Waxahachie
Schools score higher and biking is better.
Maypearl
Heat risk is higher.
Ferris
Fewer households have young kids and fewer residents vote.
Ennis
Crime runs higher and more homes sit empty.
Ellis County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Ellis County's strengths and weaknesses
Ellis County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. A strong job market is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Big-city access and few empty homes follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Long commutes, property taxes, and tree cover hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Ellis County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of counties
- Household income$103,003 median, better than 94% of counties
Where Ellis County ranks low
- Short commute30.3 minutes each way, better than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 20% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ellis County
A household needs to earn about $96,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ellis County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $103,003, 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 Ellis County's effective rate of 1.26%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ellis County
Ellis County runs younger 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 Ellis County.
Who works in Ellis County, and how
Work in Ellis County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ellis County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ellis County.
Is Ellis County growing, and who is moving in?
Ellis County has grown about 46% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Dallas, TX metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ellis County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ellis County, month by month
Ellis County sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 65° | 55° |
| July | 96° | 84° | 74° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Ellis County
Dallas Love Field sits about 29 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 8.2 million passengers in 2025, with 91 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Ellis County
Schools across Ellis County average a B, better than 73% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Longbranch ElA · 62% proficient
- Dolores Mcclatchey ElA− · 59% proficient
- Grandview ElA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Walnut Grove MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Grandview J HA · 62% proficient
- Earl & Marthalu Dieterich MiddleA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Waxahachie Global H SA · 72% proficient
- Grandview H SA · 72% proficient
- Midlothian Heritage H SA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ellis County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ellis 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 Ellis County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Ellis County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Ellis County
Is Ellis County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ellis County ranks 337th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, big-city access, and few empty homes, and lowest on long commutes and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ellis County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $343,582. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $103,003 median income, cost of living beats 94% of counties.
Is Ellis County safe?
Ellis County is safer than 53% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $403 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ellis County?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 37. That works out to about 128 pleasant days a year, more than 81% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Ellis County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Midlothian, Red Oak, and Palmer. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Ellis County good for families?
Schools beat 73% of counties, crime safety beats 53%, and childcare runs $863 a month.
Is Ellis County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 77% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Ellis County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ellis County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ellis 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.
Ellis County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ellis County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ellis County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ellis County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ellis County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ellis 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.