Best PlacesMercedes, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mercedes, 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.
Mercedes ranks 2,084th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mercedes
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.
Mercedes' strengths and weaknesses
Where Mercedes ranks high
- Cheap childcare$664 a month, better than 92% of cities
- QuietBetter than 91% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 177 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of cities
Where Mercedes ranks low
- Household income$47,025 median, better than only 1% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 3% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Mercedes
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mercedes home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $47,025, 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 Mercedes' effective rate of 1.58%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mercedes
Mercedes 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 Mercedes.
Who works in Mercedes, and how
Work in Mercedes centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Mercedes
Mercedes has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Mercedes and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mercedes, month by month
Mercedes sees roughly 177 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 73, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 73° | 60° | 51° |
| April | 87° | 76° | 68° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 77° |
| October | 89° | 76° | 67° |
Flying in and out of Mercedes
The nearest airport, Valley International, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 234 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mercedes
Schools across Mercedes average a D, better than 4% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Airport ElD+ · 22% proficient
- Raul A Gonzalez Jr ElD · 19% proficient
- Dr R E Margo ElD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Mary Hoge MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Noemi Dominguez ElD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- South Texas Isd Science AcademyA · 70% proficient
- South Texas Isd Health ProfessionsA · 68% proficient
- La Feria H SB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mercedes school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mercedes 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 Mercedes against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Mercedes suits
Common questions about living in Mercedes
Is Mercedes a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mercedes ranks 2,084th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, quiet, and the weather, and lowest on low incomes and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mercedes expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $102,677. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $47,025 median income, cost of living beats 3% of cities.
Is Mercedes safe?
Mercedes is safer than 19% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $515 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Mercedes?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 73 with lows near 51. That works out to about 177 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of cities.
Is Mercedes good for families?
Schools beat 4% of cities, crime safety beats 19%, and childcare runs $664 a month.
Compare Mercedes with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mercedes. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mercedes 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.
Mercedes detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mercedes: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mercedes: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mercedes: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mercedes: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mercedes 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.