Best PlacesErath County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Erath 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.
Erath County ranks 1,263rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Erath 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.
Erath County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Erath County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 161 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 85% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 84% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 80% of counties
Where Erath County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 13% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Erath County
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Erath County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $64,835, 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 Erath County's effective rate of 1.02%, 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 Erath County
Erath County 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 Erath County.
Who works in Erath County, and how
Work in Erath County centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Erath County
Erath County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of counties and more parkland per resident than 83% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Erath County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Erath County growing, and who is moving in?
Erath County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Dallas, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Erath County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Erath County, month by month
Erath County sees roughly 161 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 46° | 36° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 96° | 84° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Erath County
The nearest airport, Waco Regional, is about 72 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Erath County
Schools across Erath County average a B+, better than 80% of counties.
Top elementary schools
Top middle schools
- Henderson J HA− · 53% proficient
- Dublin IntB+ · 51% proficient
- Perkins MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Stephenville H SB+ · 57% proficient
- Dublin H SB+ · 55% proficient
- De Leon H SB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Erath County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Erath 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 Erath County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Erath County suits
Common questions about living in Erath County
Is Erath County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Erath County ranks 1,263rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, low taxes, and population health, and lowest on an overheated housing market and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Erath County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $271,855. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $64,835 median income, cost of living beats 48% of counties.
Is Erath County safe?
Erath County is safer than 23% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $519 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Erath County?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 36. That works out to about 161 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of counties.
Is Erath County good for families?
Schools beat 80% of counties, crime safety beats 23%, and childcare runs $863 a month.
Compare Erath County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Erath County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Erath 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.
Erath County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Erath County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Erath County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Erath County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Erath County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Erath 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.