Best PlacesNolan County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Nolan County, 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.
Nolan County ranks 2,451st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nolan 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.
Nolan County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nolan County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 143 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of counties
Where Nolan County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 6% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Nolan County
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nolan County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,660, 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 Nolan County's effective rate of 1.41%, 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 Nolan County
Nolan County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Nolan County.
Who works in Nolan County, and how
Work in Nolan County centers on manufacturing 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 90%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Nolan County
Nolan County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Nolan County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Nolan County growing, and who is moving in?
Nolan County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Lubbock, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Nolan County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Nolan County, month by month
Nolan County sees roughly 143 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 45° | 35° |
| April | 81° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 98° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Nolan County
The nearest airport, Abilene Regional, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 199 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nolan County
Schools across Nolan County average a D+, better than 14% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Merkel ElB− · 42% proficient
- Sweetwater IntC+ · 37% proficient
- East Ridge ElD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sweetwater MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Roscoe Collegiate H SC+ · 38% proficient
- Merkel H SC+ · 35% proficient
- Sweetwater H SD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nolan County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nolan 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 Nolan County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Nolan County
Is Nolan County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nolan County ranks 2,451st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, a stable housing market, and cell coverage, and lowest on noise and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nolan County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $111,704. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $59,660 median income, cost of living beats 34% of counties.
Is Nolan County safe?
Nolan County is safer than 19% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $533 per resident a year.
Compare Nolan County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nolan County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nolan 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.
Nolan County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nolan County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nolan County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nolan County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nolan County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nolan 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.