Best PlacesMilam County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Milam County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Milam County ranks 1,540th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Summer heat pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Milam 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.
Milam County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Milam County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 85% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 80% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 125 pleasant days a year, better than 78% of counties
Where Milam County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Short commute31.6 minutes each way, better than only 10% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 18% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Milam County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Milam County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,973, 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 Milam County's effective rate of 1.07%, 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 Milam County
Milam County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Milam County.
Who works in Milam County, and how
Work in Milam County centers on construction 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 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Milam County
Milam County has more parkland per resident than 78% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Milam County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Milam County growing, and who is moving in?
Milam County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Austin, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Milam County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Milam County, month by month
Milam County sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 50° | 41° |
| April | 80° | 68° | 58° |
| July | 97° | 85° | 75° |
| October | 84° | 70° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Milam County
The nearest airport, Easterwood Field, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Austin-Bergstrom International, about 55 miles away.
The best schools in and around Milam County
Schools across Milam County average a C+, better than 56% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lexington ElB+ · 51% proficient
- Holland ElB · 48% proficient
- Milano ElB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Holland MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Milano J HA− · 57% proficient
- Cameron MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Thorndale H SA− · 60% proficient
- Milano H SA− · 60% proficient
- Rogers H SB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Milam County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Milam 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 Milam County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Milam County suits
Common questions about living in Milam County
Is Milam County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Milam County ranks 1,540th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, a stable housing market, and a strong job market, 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 Milam County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,799. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $70,973 median income, cost of living beats 55% of counties.
Is Milam County safe?
Milam County is safer than 48% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $412 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Milam County?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 62 with lows near 41. That works out to about 125 pleasant days a year, more than 78% of counties.
Is Milam County good for families?
Schools beat 56% of counties, crime safety beats 48%, and childcare runs $614 a month.
Compare Milam County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Milam County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Milam 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.
Milam County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Milam County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Milam County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Milam County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Milam County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Milam 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.