Best PlacesNew Braunfels, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Braunfels, 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.
New Braunfels ranks 87th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on a strong job market and low crime. The weaker spots are biking, transit, and walkability.
The best neighborhoods in New Braunfels
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.
New Braunfels' strengths and weaknesses
New Braunfels ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. A strong job market, low crime, and what local pay buys carry most of that.
The one real hole is biking, near the bottom of the country. Transit and walkability also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where New Braunfels ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 94% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- Cheap childcare$783 a month, better than 86% of cities
Where New Braunfels ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 5% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 5% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 15% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 26% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in New Braunfels
A household needs to earn about $111,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Braunfels home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $104,721; 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 New Braunfels' effective rate of 1.16%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in New Braunfels
New Braunfels's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for New Braunfels.
Who works in New Braunfels, and how
Work in New Braunfels centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in New Braunfels
New Braunfels has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of cities and more parkland per resident than 83% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of New Braunfels and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in New Braunfels, month by month
New Braunfels sees roughly 144 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 52° | 41° |
| April | 84° | 70° | 59° |
| July | 98° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 86° | 72° | 61° |
Flying in and out of New Braunfels
San Antonio International sits about 24 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 New Braunfels
Schools across New Braunfels average a B, better than 81% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Hoffmann Lane ElA+ · 79% proficient
- Johnson Ranch ElA · 62% proficient
- Garden Ridge ElA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Smithson Valley MiddleA+ · 68% proficient
- Church Hill MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Mt Valley MiddleA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Memorial Early College H S With St Philip'sA+ · 82% proficient
- Smithson Valley H SA · 72% proficient
- Canyon H SA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Braunfels school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Braunfels 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 New Braunfels against the other 444 cities.
Who New Braunfels suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of cities and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in New Braunfels
Is New Braunfels a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Braunfels ranks 87th of 445 cities. It scores highest on a strong job market, low crime, and what local pay buys, and lowest on biking and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is New Braunfels expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $404,641. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $104,721 median income, cost of living beats 89% of cities.
Is New Braunfels safe?
Yes, New Braunfels is safer than 89% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $311 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in New Braunfels?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 41. That works out to about 144 pleasant days a year, more than 71% of cities.
Is New Braunfels good for families?
Schools beat 81% of cities, crime safety beats 89%, and childcare runs $783 a month.
Is New Braunfels good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 44% of cities. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare New Braunfels with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Braunfels. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Braunfels 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.
New Braunfels detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Braunfels: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Braunfels: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Braunfels: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Braunfels: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Braunfels 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.