Best PlacesMason, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mason, 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.
Mason ranks 19,572nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Mason
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.
Mason's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mason ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 188 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
Where Mason ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Short commute32.4 minutes each way, better than only 22% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 26% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mason
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mason home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $63,590, 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 Mason's effective rate of 0.96%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mason
Mason runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mason.
Who works in Mason, and how
Work in Mason centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Mason
Mason has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Mason and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mason, month by month
Mason sees roughly 188 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 60, 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 | 60° | 46° | 36° |
| April | 79° | 65° | 55° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 72° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Mason
The nearest airport, Robert Gray AAF, is about 86 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mason
Schools across Mason average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mason ElB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mason J HB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Mason H SA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mason school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mason 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 Mason against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mason
Is Mason a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mason ranks 19,572nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, walkability, and fast internet, and lowest on summer heat and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mason expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $300,165. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $63,590 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is Mason safe?
Mason is safer than 39% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $446 per resident a year.
Compare Mason with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mason. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mason 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.
Mason detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mason: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mason: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mason: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mason: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mason 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.