Best PlacesLubbock County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lubbock County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lubbock County ranks 844th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on tree cover and civic engagement. It does better on cell coverage, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Lubbock 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 Lubbock County
The parts of Lubbock 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.
Wolfforth
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more residents vote.
Shallowater
Crime runs lower and more households have young kids.
Lubbock
Biking is better, though more homes sit empty.
Idalou
Homes cost less, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Slaton
Health outcomes score lower and schools score lower.
Lubbock County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Lubbock County's strengths and weaknesses
Lubbock County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Cell coverage is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Clean air and short commutes follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Tree cover, civic engagement, and thin health care access hold the score down. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Lubbock County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of counties
- Short commute17.1 minutes each way, better than 90% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- TransitBetter than 89% of counties
Where Lubbock County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 9% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 17% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lubbock County
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lubbock County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,395, 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 Lubbock County's effective rate of 1.42%, 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 Lubbock County
Lubbock County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lubbock County.
Who works in Lubbock County, and how
Work in Lubbock County centers on education and health care & social. 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 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Lubbock County
Lubbock County has more parkland per resident than 86% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 94% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lubbock County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lubbock County growing, and who is moving in?
Lubbock County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Dallas, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lubbock County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lubbock County, month by month
Lubbock County sees roughly 137 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 Lubbock County
The nearest airport, Lubbock Preston Smith International, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 284 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lubbock County
Schools across Lubbock County average a B−, better than 66% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Crestview ElA+ · 74% proficient
- Rise AcademyA · 68% proficient
- Shallowater IntA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Shallowater MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Hutchinson MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Heritage MiddleA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Talkington School For Young Women LeadersA · 78% proficient
- Idalou H SA · 75% proficient
- Shallowater H SA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lubbock County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lubbock 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 Lubbock County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lubbock County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lubbock County
Is Lubbock County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lubbock County ranks 844th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, clean air, and short commutes, and lowest on tree cover and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lubbock County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $217,464. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $74,395 median income, cost of living beats 67% of counties.
Is Lubbock County safe?
Lubbock County is safer than 17% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $649 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lubbock County?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 26. That works out to about 137 pleasant days a year, more than 87% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lubbock County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Wolfforth, Shallowater, and Lubbock. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Lubbock County good for families?
Schools beat 66% of counties, crime safety beats 17%, and childcare runs $672 a month.
Is Lubbock County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 67% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 85% of counties. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare Lubbock County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lubbock County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lubbock 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.
Lubbock County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lubbock County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lubbock County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lubbock County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lubbock County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lubbock 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.