Best PlacesHuntsville, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Huntsville, 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.
Huntsville ranks 1,952nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Low incomes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Huntsville
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.
Huntsville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Huntsville ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of cities
- Cheap childcare$840 a month, better than 77% of cities
- QuietBetter than 76% of cities
Where Huntsville ranks low
- Household income$53,525 median, better than only 2% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 4% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Huntsville
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Huntsville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $53,525, 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 Huntsville's effective rate of 0.94%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Huntsville
Huntsville runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Huntsville.
Who works in Huntsville, and how
Work in Huntsville centers on education and public administration. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Huntsville
Huntsville has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of cities and more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Huntsville and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Huntsville, month by month
Huntsville sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 51° | 43° |
| April | 81° | 69° | 60° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 83° | 71° | 61° |
Flying in and out of Huntsville
The nearest airport, Easterwood Field, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 52 miles away.
The best schools in and around Huntsville
Schools across Huntsville average a B−, better than 53% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- New Waverly ElA− · 58% proficient
- Madisonville IntB · 44% proficient
- New Waverly IntB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Madisonville J HA− · 55% proficient
- Texas Online Preparatory MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Livingston J HC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Madisonville H SA− · 60% proficient
- Texas Online Preparatory H SB+ · 57% proficient
- Livingston H SB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Huntsville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Huntsville 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 Huntsville against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Huntsville suits
Common questions about living in Huntsville
Is Huntsville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Huntsville ranks 1,952nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low taxes, state finances, and tree cover, and lowest on low incomes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Huntsville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $234,965. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $53,525 median income, cost of living beats 4% of cities.
Is Huntsville safe?
Huntsville is safer than 17% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $562 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Huntsville?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 63 with lows near 43. That works out to about 103 pleasant days a year, more than 62% of cities.
Is Huntsville good for families?
Schools beat 53% of cities, crime safety beats 17%, and childcare runs $840 a month.
Compare Huntsville with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Huntsville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Huntsville 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.
Huntsville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Huntsville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Huntsville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Huntsville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Huntsville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Huntsville 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.
- 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.