Best PlacesGillespie County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gillespie County, 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.
Gillespie County ranks 535th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Gillespie 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.
Gillespie County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gillespie County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 160 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 94% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of counties
- QuietBetter than 83% of counties
Where Gillespie County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 20% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gillespie County
A household needs to earn about $125,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gillespie County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $77,167, 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 Gillespie County's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 Gillespie County
Gillespie County 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 Gillespie County.
Who works in Gillespie County, and how
Work in Gillespie County centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Gillespie County
Gillespie County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Gillespie County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Gillespie County growing, and who is moving in?
Gillespie County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Austin, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Gillespie County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gillespie County, month by month
Gillespie County sees roughly 160 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 61, 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 | 61° | 47° | 37° |
| April | 79° | 66° | 55° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 72° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Gillespie County
San Antonio International sits about 58 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.3 million passengers in 2025, with 87 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Gillespie County
Schools across Gillespie County average a B, better than 77% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Stonewall ElA · 65% proficient
- Harper ElA− · 58% proficient
- Fredericksburg ElB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fredericksburg MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- Harper MiddleB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Fredericksburg H SB+ · 51% proficient
- Harper H SB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gillespie County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gillespie 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 Gillespie County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Gillespie County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 95% of counties, health care access beats 67%, and it is quieter than 83%.
Common questions about living in Gillespie County
Is Gillespie County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gillespie County ranks 535th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, a strong job market, and low taxes, and lowest on summer heat and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gillespie County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $474,536. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $77,167 median income, cost of living beats 72% of counties.
Is Gillespie County safe?
Gillespie County is safer than 48% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $418 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Gillespie County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 37. That works out to about 160 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of counties.
Is Gillespie County good for families?
Schools beat 77% of counties, crime safety beats 48%, and childcare runs $783 a month.
Compare Gillespie County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gillespie County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gillespie 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.
Gillespie County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gillespie County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gillespie County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gillespie County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gillespie County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gillespie 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.