Best PlacesMedina County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Medina 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.
Medina County ranks 1,547th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Medina 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 Medina County
The parts of Medina 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.
Castroville, Rio Medina & San Antonio
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and it is quieter.
Devine
Homes cost less and fewer homes sit empty.
Natalia
More households have young kids, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Hondo
Fewer residents vote and health care is harder to reach.
Medina County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 10%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Medina County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Medina County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 159 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 78% of counties
- Household income$81,181 median, better than 77% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of counties
Where Medina County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Short commute31.6 minutes each way, better than only 10% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 13% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 15% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Medina County
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Medina County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,181, 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 Medina County's effective rate of 1.26%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Medina County
Medina County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Medina County.
Who works in Medina County, and how
Work in Medina County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Medina County
Medina County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Medina County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Medina County growing, and who is moving in?
Medina County has grown about 16% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the San Antonio, TX metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Medina County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Medina County, month by month
Medina County sees roughly 159 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 52° | 40° |
| April | 85° | 71° | 59° |
| July | 98° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 86° | 72° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Medina County
San Antonio International sits about 33 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.3 million passengers in 2025, with 87 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Medina County
Schools across Medina County average a B−, better than 64% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Castroville ElA− · 59% proficient
- Mcandrew ElB+ · 53% proficient
- Potranco ElB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Boerne Middle SouthA · 64% proficient
- Medina Valley Loma Alta MiddleA− · 56% proficient
- Medina Valley MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Medina Valley H SB+ · 53% proficient
- Harlan H SB · 48% proficient
- Hondo H SB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Medina County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Medina 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 Medina County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Medina County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 73% of counties and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Medina County
Is Medina County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Medina County ranks 1,547th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, low taxes, and big-city access, and lowest on summer heat and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Medina County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $267,525. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $81,181 median income, cost of living beats 73% of counties.
Is Medina County safe?
Medina County is safer than 20% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $542 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Medina County?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 67 with lows near 40. That works out to about 159 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Medina County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Castroville, Rio Medina & San Antonio, Devine, and Natalia. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Medina County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Medina County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Medina 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.
Medina County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Medina County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Medina County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Medina County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Medina County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Medina 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.