Best PlacesGrayson County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Grayson 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.
Grayson County ranks 699th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on the weather and low taxes. The weaker spots are summer heat, air quality, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Grayson 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 Grayson County
The parts of Grayson 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.
Van Alstyne, Whitewright & Bells
More households have young kids, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Gunter & Collinsville
Fewer homes sit empty, though tree cover is thinner.
Howe
Heat risk is lower, though prices have run up more.
Denison
Commutes are shorter, though health outcomes score lower.
Pottsboro
It is quieter and more residents vote.
Whitesboro
Scores close to Pottsboro, except that health care is harder to reach here.
Sherman
Schools score lower and crime runs higher.
Scores across Grayson County run from about the 8th to the 90th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Grayson County's strengths and weaknesses
Grayson County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. The weather, low taxes, and big-city access carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Summer heat, air quality, and property taxes hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Grayson County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 156 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 87% of counties
Where Grayson County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 23% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Grayson County
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grayson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,510, 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 Grayson County's effective rate of 1.24%, 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 Grayson County
Grayson 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 Grayson County.
Who works in Grayson County, and how
Work in Grayson County centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Grayson County
Grayson County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 81% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Grayson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Grayson County growing, and who is moving in?
Grayson County has grown about 22% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Dallas, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Grayson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Grayson County, month by month
Grayson County sees roughly 156 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 44° | 35° |
| April | 74° | 63° | 54° |
| July | 95° | 85° | 75° |
| October | 79° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Grayson County
Dallas Love Field sits about 57 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 8.2 million passengers in 2025, with 91 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Grayson County
Schools across Grayson County average a B−, better than 69% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bob And Lola Sanford ElA− · 59% proficient
- Howe IntA− · 56% proficient
- John And Nelda Partin ElB+ · 54% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pritchard J HA · 66% proficient
- Van Alstyne J HA · 64% proficient
- Jerry & Linda Moore MiddleA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Van Alstyne H SA · 78% proficient
- Howe H SA− · 63% proficient
- Bells H SA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grayson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grayson 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 Grayson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Grayson County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 86% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Grayson County
Is Grayson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grayson County ranks 699th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, low taxes, and big-city access, 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 Grayson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $261,751. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $79,510 median income, cost of living beats 86% of counties.
Is Grayson County safe?
Yes, Grayson County is safer than 62% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $366 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Grayson County?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 55 with lows near 35. That works out to about 156 pleasant days a year, more than 93% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Grayson County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Van Alstyne, Whitewright & Bells, Gunter & Collinsville, and Howe. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Grayson County good for families?
Schools beat 69% of counties, crime safety beats 62%, and childcare runs $635 a month.
Is Grayson County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 86% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 88% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Grayson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grayson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grayson 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.
Grayson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grayson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grayson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grayson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grayson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grayson 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.