Best PlacesEstes, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Estes, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Estes ranks 12,388th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Estes
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.
Estes' strengths and weaknesses
Where Estes ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 211 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
Where Estes ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Estes
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Estes home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $72,757, 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 Estes' effective rate of 1.04%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Estes
Estes runs older 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 Estes.
Who works in Estes, and how
Work in Estes centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Estes
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Estes.
What the weather is like in Estes, month by month
Estes sees roughly 211 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 50. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 58° | 50° |
| April | 81° | 73° | 67° |
| July | 92° | 85° | 80° |
| October | 85° | 76° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Estes
The nearest airport, Corpus Christi International, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 130 miles away.
The best schools in and around Estes
Schools across Estes average a C+, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Refugio ElC− · 27% proficient
- Fulton Learning CenterD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Refugio J HC · 35% proficient
- Rockport-fulton MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Refugio H SB · 47% proficient
- Rockport-fulton H SC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Estes school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Estes 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 Estes against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Estes
Is Estes a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Estes ranks 12,388th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, a strong job market, and civic engagement, and lowest on summer heat and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Estes expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $365,516. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $72,757 median income, cost of living beats 65% of towns.
Is Estes safe?
Yes, Estes is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $240 per resident a year.
Compare Estes with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Estes. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Estes 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.
Estes detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Estes: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Estes: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Estes: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Estes: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Estes 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.