Best PlacesKaufman County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kaufman 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.
Kaufman County ranks 618th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $92,503, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are long commutes, property taxes, and thin health care access.
The best neighborhoods in Kaufman 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 Kaufman County
The parts of Kaufman 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.
Crandall
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more residents vote.
Forney
More households have young kids and more adults hold degrees.
Kaufman & Scurry
It is quieter, though advertised internet is slower.
Mabank, Seven Points & Kemp
More homes sit empty and heat risk is higher.
Terrell
Homes cost less, though schools score lower.
Kaufman County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Kaufman County's strengths and weaknesses
Kaufman 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. Big-city access and few empty homes follow.
The one real hole is long commutes, near the bottom of the country. Property taxes and thin health care access also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Kaufman County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Household income$92,503 median, better than 88% of counties
Where Kaufman County ranks low
- Short commute35.6 minutes each way, better than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 12% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kaufman County
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kaufman County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $92,503, 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 Kaufman County's effective rate of 1.49%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kaufman County
Kaufman County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kaufman County.
Who works in Kaufman County, and how
Work in Kaufman County centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Kaufman County
Kaufman County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Kaufman County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Kaufman County growing, and who is moving in?
Kaufman County has grown about 78% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Dallas, TX metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kaufman County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kaufman County, month by month
Kaufman County sees roughly 133 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 46° | 36° |
| April | 77° | 65° | 55° |
| July | 96° | 84° | 75° |
| October | 81° | 68° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Kaufman County
Dallas Love Field sits about 31 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 Kaufman County
Schools across Kaufman County average a C+, better than 56% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Amy Parks-heath ElA · 65% proficient
- Global Leadership AcademyA · 63% proficient
- Claybon ElA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sunnyvale MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Mabank J HA− · 55% proficient
- Maurine Cain MiddleA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Rockwall-heath H SA− · 62% proficient
- Forney H SA− · 60% proficient
- Scurry-rosser H SB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kaufman County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kaufman 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 Kaufman County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Kaufman County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Kaufman County
Is Kaufman County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kaufman County ranks 618th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, big-city access, and few empty homes, and lowest on long commutes and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kaufman County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $301,707. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $92,503 median income, cost of living beats 87% of counties.
Is Kaufman County safe?
Yes, Kaufman County is safer than 72% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $348 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kaufman County?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 36. That works out to about 133 pleasant days a year, more than 84% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kaufman County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Crandall, Forney, and Kaufman & Scurry. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Kaufman County good for families?
Schools beat 56% of counties, crime safety beats 72%, and childcare runs $863 a month.
Is Kaufman County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 83% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Kaufman County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kaufman County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kaufman 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.
Kaufman County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kaufman County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kaufman County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kaufman County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kaufman County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kaufman 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.