Best PlacesGalveston, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Galveston, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Galveston ranks 1,818th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Galveston
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
The parts of Galveston, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Lake Madeline, Barton Square & Central City Galveston
East End Historic District, Lindale & Harborview
San Jacinto
Fort Crockett
Lasker Park & Kempner Park
Bayou Shore
Carver Park
Scores across Galveston run from about the 4th to the 72nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Galveston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Galveston ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of cities
- Short commute20.2 minutes each way, better than 86% of cities
Where Galveston ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Galveston
A household needs to earn about $95,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Galveston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $62,869, 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 Galveston's effective rate of 1.09%, 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 Galveston
Galveston's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Galveston.
Who works in Galveston, and how
Work in Galveston centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Galveston
Galveston has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. The coast is about 2 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Galveston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Galveston, month by month
Galveston sees roughly 146 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
William P Hobby sits about 37 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
Schools across Galveston average a B+, better than 77% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Oppe ElA · 64% proficient
- Morgan El Magnet SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Parker ElC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Austin MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- O'hara Lanier MiddleC− · 30% proficient
- Crosby MiddleC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Hitchcock H SB− · 45% proficient
- Angleton H SB− · 43% proficient
- Ball H SC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Galveston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Galveston 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 against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Galveston suits
Common questions about living in Galveston
Is Galveston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Galveston ranks 1,818th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cell coverage, walkability, and low taxes, and lowest on disaster risk and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Galveston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $350,978. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $62,869 median income, cost of living beats 10% of cities.
Is Galveston safe?
Galveston is safer than 7% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $646 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Galveston?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 51. That works out to about 146 pleasant days a year, more than 80% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Galveston?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lake Madeline, Barton Square & Central City Galveston, East End Historic District, Lindale & Harborview, and San Jacinto. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Galveston with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Galveston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Galveston 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Galveston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Galveston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Galveston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Galveston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Galveston 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.