Best PlacesHays County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hays 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.
Hays County ranks 197th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $100,512, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are property taxes, thin health care access, and long commutes.
The best neighborhoods in Hays 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 Hays County
The parts of Hays 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.
Dripping Springs, Austin & Driftwood
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Buda
More households have young kids and more residents vote.
Wimberley
It is quieter, though heat risk is higher.
Kyle
Health care is harder to reach and commutes are longer.
Hays
Tree cover is thicker, though prices have run up more.
San Marcos
Biking is better, though schools score lower.
Hays County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Hays County's strengths and weaknesses
Hays County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. A strong job market is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. What local pay buys and population health follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Property taxes, thin health care access, and long commutes hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Hays County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of counties
Where Hays County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 9% of counties
- Short commute31.3 minutes each way, better than only 11% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 15% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hays County
A household needs to earn about $125,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hays County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $100,512, 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 Hays County's effective rate of 1.45%, 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 Hays County
Hays County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hays County.
Who works in Hays County, and how
Work in Hays County centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Hays County
Hays County has more late-night spots per resident than 78% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Hays County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hays County growing, and who is moving in?
Hays County has grown about 58% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Austin, TX metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hays County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hays County, month by month
Hays County sees roughly 148 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 51° | 41° |
| April | 82° | 69° | 58° |
| July | 97° | 84° | 74° |
| October | 85° | 71° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Hays County
Austin-Bergstrom International sits about 20 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 Hays County
Schools across Hays County average a B−, better than 61% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Carpenter Hill ElA · 62% proficient
- Elm Grove ElA− · 61% proficient
- Sycamore Springs ElA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Olympia HillsA+ · 75% proficient
- Sycamore Springs MiddleA+ · 68% proficient
- Mt Valley MiddleA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Memorial Early College H S With St Philip'sA+ · 82% proficient
- Dripping Springs H SA− · 65% proficient
- Wimberley H SA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hays County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hays 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 Hays County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Hays County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Hays County
Is Hays County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hays County ranks 197th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, what local pay buys, and population health, and lowest on property taxes and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hays County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $439,951. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $100,512 median income, cost of living beats 97% of counties.
Is Hays County safe?
Yes, Hays County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $277 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hays County?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 41. That works out to about 148 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Hays County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Dripping Springs, Austin & Driftwood, Buda, and Wimberley. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Hays County good for families?
Schools beat 61% of counties, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $923 a month.
Is Hays County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 74% of counties. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare Hays County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hays County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hays 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.
Hays County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hays County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hays County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hays County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hays County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hays 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.