Best PlacesMesquite, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mesquite, 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.
Mesquite ranks 391st of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on crime and civic engagement. It does better on low taxes, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Mesquite
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 Mesquite
The parts of Mesquite, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Southeastern Mesquite
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more households have young kids.
Landers
Fewer homes sit empty and prices have run up less.
Towne Centre Village, Park City & Long Branch
More adults hold degrees, though heat risk is higher.
Northeast Dallas-White Rock & East Meadows
Biking is better, though fewer residents vote.
Rodeo Centre & Diamond D
It is noisier.
Villas at Mesquite Creek, Mesquite Commons & Galloway Range
Streets are more walkable and commutes are shorter.
Austin
Health care is harder to reach.
Southeast Dallas
Scores across Mesquite run from about the 2nd to the 67th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Mesquite's strengths and weaknesses
Mesquite ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Low taxes, state finances, and a stable housing market are the strongest pieces, though none of them is exceptional.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: crime, civic engagement, and thin health care access all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Mesquite ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 84% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 71% of cities
- Cheap childcare$882 a month, better than 70% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 141 pleasant days a year, better than 70% of cities
Where Mesquite ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 9% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 9% of cities
- Short commute32.1 minutes each way, better than only 10% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Mesquite
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mesquite home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,001, 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 Mesquite's effective rate of 1.40%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mesquite
Mesquite 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 Mesquite.
Who works in Mesquite, and how
Work in Mesquite centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Mesquite
Mesquite has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Mesquite and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mesquite, month by month
Mesquite sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 65° | 55° |
| July | 95° | 84° | 74° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Mesquite
Dallas Love Field sits about 15 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 Mesquite
Schools across Mesquite average a C+, better than 39% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Johnson ElB+ · 54% proficient
- Motley ElB− · 43% proficient
- Austin ElB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sunnyvale MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Warren MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Kimbrough MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Sunnyvale H SA · 68% proficient
- Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate AcademyA− · 60% proficient
- Forney H SA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mesquite school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mesquite 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 Mesquite against the other 444 cities.
Who Mesquite suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Mesquite
Is Mesquite a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mesquite ranks 391st of 445 cities. It scores highest on low taxes, state finances, and a stable housing market, and lowest on crime and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mesquite expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $248,946. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $80,001 median income, cost of living beats 43% of cities.
Is Mesquite safe?
Mesquite is safer than 1% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,052 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Mesquite?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 37. That works out to about 141 pleasant days a year, more than 70% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Mesquite?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Southeastern Mesquite, Landers, and Towne Centre Village, Park City & Long Branch. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Mesquite good for families?
Schools beat 39% of cities, crime safety beats 1%, and childcare runs $882 a month.
Is Mesquite good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 43% of cities, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 65% of cities. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Mesquite with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mesquite. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mesquite 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.
Mesquite detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mesquite: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mesquite: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mesquite: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mesquite: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mesquite 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.