Best PlacesNell, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nell, 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.
Nell ranks 39,815th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Nell
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.
Nell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nell ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 181 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 70% of towns
Where Nell ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nell
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $68,672; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Nell's effective rate of 0.71%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Nell
Nell runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Nell.
Who works in Nell, and how
Work in Nell centers on construction and wholesale trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Nell
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Nell.
What the weather is like in Nell, month by month
Nell sees roughly 181 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 53° | 43° |
| April | 85° | 71° | 61° |
| July | 99° | 85° | 75° |
| October | 87° | 73° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Nell
San Antonio International sits about 62 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 Nell
Schools across Nell average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Three Rivers ElB · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Three Rivers Jr/sr H SC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nell 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 Nell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Nell
Is Nell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nell ranks 39,815th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, a stable housing market, and low taxes, and lowest on thin health care access and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $279,200. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $68,672 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is Nell safe?
Nell is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $577 per resident a year.
Compare Nell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nell 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.
Nell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nell 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.