Best PlacesGonzales County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gonzales 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.
Gonzales County ranks 2,285th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Gonzales 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.
Gonzales County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gonzales County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 172 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 78% of counties
Where Gonzales County ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 5% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gonzales County
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gonzales County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,951, 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 Gonzales 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gonzales County
Gonzales 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 Gonzales County.
Who works in Gonzales County, and how
Work in Gonzales County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Gonzales County
Gonzales County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of counties and more parkland per resident than 86% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Gonzales County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Gonzales County growing, and who is moving in?
Gonzales County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from San Antonio, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Gonzales County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gonzales County, month by month
Gonzales County sees roughly 172 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 53° | 44° |
| April | 82° | 70° | 61° |
| July | 97° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 85° | 72° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Gonzales County
Austin-Bergstrom International sits about 50 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 10.7 million passengers in 2025, with 127 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Gonzales County
Schools across Gonzales County average a C, better than 39% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Shiner ElA · 68% proficient
- Moulton ElB− · 44% proficient
- Gonzales North AvenueC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Yoakum J HB− · 40% proficient
- Nixon-smiley MiddleC · 34% proficient
- Gonzales J HD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Shiner H SA · 72% proficient
- Nixon-smiley H SB+ · 58% proficient
- Cuero H SB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gonzales County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gonzales 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 Gonzales County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Gonzales County
Is Gonzales County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gonzales County ranks 2,285th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, low taxes, and fast internet, and lowest on education levels and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gonzales County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $167,578. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $59,951 median income, cost of living beats 21% of counties.
Is Gonzales County safe?
Gonzales County is safer than 17% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $580 per resident a year.
Compare Gonzales County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gonzales County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gonzales 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.
Gonzales County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gonzales County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gonzales County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gonzales County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gonzales County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gonzales 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.