Best PlacesGalveston County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Galveston 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.
Galveston County ranks 1,033rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $102,543, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are disaster risk, summer heat, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Galveston 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 Galveston County
The parts of Galveston 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.
League City & Friendswood
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and fewer homes sit empty.
Santa Fe
More households have young kids, though streets are more car-dependent.
Bacliff & San Leon
Heat risk is lower, though disaster risk is higher.
Hitchcock
Biking is worse and prices have run up more.
Texas City & La Marque
Fewer adults hold degrees and schools score lower.
Galveston
Transit reaches more jobs, though fewer residents vote.
Galveston County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 4% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Galveston County's strengths and weaknesses
Galveston County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. What local pay buys, cell coverage, and fast internet carry most of that.
The one real hole is disaster risk, near the bottom of the country. Summer heat and property taxes also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Galveston County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of counties
- Household income$102,543 median, better than 93% of counties
Where Galveston County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 18% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Galveston County
A household needs to earn about $91,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Galveston County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $102,543, 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 Galveston County's effective rate of 1.36%, 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 Galveston County
Galveston County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Galveston County.
Who works in Galveston County, and how
Work in Galveston County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Galveston County
Galveston County has less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 8 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Galveston County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Galveston County growing, and who is moving in?
Galveston County has grown about 17% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Houston, TX metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Galveston County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Galveston County, month by month
Galveston County sees roughly 142 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 57° | 51° |
| April | 78° | 72° | 67° |
| July | 91° | 85° | 81° |
| October | 83° | 76° | 71° |
Flying in and out of Galveston County
William P Hobby sits about 22 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 Galveston County
Schools across Galveston County average a B−, better than 73% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Windsong IntA+ · 74% proficient
- Oppe ElA · 64% proficient
- C W Cline ElA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- League City IntA+ · 72% proficient
- Austin MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Friendswood J HA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- Friendswood H SA · 73% proficient
- Clear Springs H SA− · 65% proficient
- Clear Falls H SA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Galveston County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Galveston 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 Galveston County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Galveston County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Galveston County
Is Galveston County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Galveston County ranks 1,033rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, cell coverage, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Galveston County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $321,860. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $102,543 median income, cost of living beats 96% of counties.
Is Galveston County safe?
Galveston County is safer than 32% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $480 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Galveston County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 51. That works out to about 142 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Galveston County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are League City & Friendswood, Santa Fe, and Bacliff & San Leon. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Galveston County good for families?
Schools beat 73% of counties, crime safety beats 32%, and childcare runs $842 a month.
Is Galveston County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 95% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Galveston County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Galveston County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Galveston 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.
Galveston County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Galveston County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Galveston County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Galveston County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Galveston County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Galveston 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.