Best PlacesHenderson County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Henderson 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.
Henderson County ranks 1,509th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Summer heat pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Henderson 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 Henderson County
The parts of Henderson 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.
Athens & Malakoff
Fewer homes sit empty, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Brownsboro
More households have young kids and commutes are shorter.
Chandler
Tree cover is thicker and crime runs lower.
Eustace
Gun Barrel City, Mabank & Seven Points
Heat risk is higher.
Scores across Henderson County run from about the 4th to the 78th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Henderson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Henderson County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 83% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 123 pleasant days a year, better than 76% of counties
Where Henderson County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Short commute29.1 minutes each way, better than only 20% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 20% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 23% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Henderson County
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Henderson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,470, 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 Henderson 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 Henderson County
Henderson County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Henderson County.
Who works in Henderson County, and how
Work in Henderson County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Henderson County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Henderson County.
Is Henderson County growing, and who is moving in?
Henderson County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Dallas, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Henderson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Henderson County, month by month
Henderson County sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 58, 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 | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 65° | 55° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Henderson County
The nearest airport, Tyler Pounds Regional, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 70 miles away.
The best schools in and around Henderson County
Schools across Henderson County average a B−, better than 60% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Malakoff ElA− · 57% proficient
- Frankston ElB · 48% proficient
- Lakeview ElB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cross Roads J HA+ · 72% proficient
- Malakoff MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Eustace MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Cross Roads H SA− · 63% proficient
- Brownsboro H SB+ · 53% proficient
- Malakoff H SB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Henderson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Henderson 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 Henderson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Henderson County suits
Common questions about living in Henderson County
Is Henderson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Henderson County ranks 1,509th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, low disaster risk, and big-city access, and lowest on summer heat and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Henderson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $210,275. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $68,470 median income, cost of living beats 46% of counties.
Is Henderson County safe?
Henderson County is safer than 54% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $392 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Henderson County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 37. That works out to about 123 pleasant days a year, more than 76% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Henderson County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Athens & Malakoff, Brownsboro, and Chandler. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Henderson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Henderson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Henderson 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.
Henderson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Henderson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Henderson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Henderson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Henderson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Henderson 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.