Best PlacesHockley County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hockley 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.
Hockley County ranks 1,598th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hockley 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.
Hockley County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hockley County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 139 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of counties
Where Hockley County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 11% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 13% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hockley County
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hockley County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,490, 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 Hockley County's effective rate of 1.14%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hockley County
Hockley County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hockley County.
Who works in Hockley County, and how
Work in Hockley County centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Hockley County
Hockley County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 84% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hockley County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hockley County growing, and who is moving in?
Hockley County has lost about 8% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Lubbock, TX metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hockley County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hockley County, month by month
Hockley County sees roughly 139 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 40° | 26° |
| April | 81° | 62° | 45° |
| July | 97° | 83° | 70° |
| October | 80° | 63° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Hockley County
The nearest airport, Lubbock Preston Smith International, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 264 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hockley County
Schools across Hockley County average a B−, better than 60% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sundown ElB · 50% proficient
- Willow Bend ElC · 35% proficient
- Levelland IntC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Shallowater MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Sundown J HA− · 57% proficient
- Terra Vista MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Frenship H SA− · 60% proficient
- Levelland H SB+ · 58% proficient
- Sundown H SB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hockley County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hockley 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 Hockley County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Hockley County suits
Common questions about living in Hockley County
Is Hockley County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hockley County ranks 1,598th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, a stable housing market, and cell coverage, and lowest on tree cover 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 Hockley County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $127,096. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $66,490 median income, cost of living beats 50% of counties.
Is Hockley County safe?
Hockley County is safer than 17% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $548 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hockley County?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 26. That works out to about 139 pleasant days a year, more than 87% of counties.
Is Hockley County good for families?
Schools beat 60% of counties, crime safety beats 17%, and childcare runs $672 a month.
Compare Hockley County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hockley County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hockley 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.
Hockley County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hockley County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hockley County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hockley County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hockley County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hockley 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.