Best PlacesOak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston ranks 2,767th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston
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.
Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$842 a month, better than 83% of neighborhoods
- Household income$117,237 median, better than 79% of neighborhoods
Where Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD+, better than only 21% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 22% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston
A household needs to earn about $142,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $117,237, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston's effective rate of 1.36%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston
Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston.
Who works in Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston, and how
Work in Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston centers on professional & technical and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston
Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston has more parkland per resident than 85% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 34 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston, month by month
Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 49. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 55° | 49° |
| April | 80° | 71° | 64° |
| July | 94° | 85° | 79° |
| October | 83° | 74° | 67° |
Flying in and out of Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston
George Bush Intcntl/Houston sits about 12 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 23.3 million passengers in 2025, with 214 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston
Schools across Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston average a D+, better than 21% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Forest ElA · 65% proficient
- Garden Oaks MontessoriC− · 30% proficient
- Durham ElD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Black MiddleB · 46% proficient
- Dean MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- Kipp Nexus MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Cypress Ridge H SB+ · 53% proficient
- Washington B T H SC− · 28% proficient
- Waltrip H SC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston 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 Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of neighborhoods, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston
Is Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston ranks 2,767th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on what local pay buys, state finances, and low taxes, and lowest on air quality and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $504,816. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $117,237 median income, cost of living beats 90% of neighborhoods.
Is Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston safe?
Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston is safer than 29% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $743 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 49. That works out to about 132 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of neighborhoods.
Is Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston good for families?
Schools beat 21% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 29%, and childcare runs $842 a month.
Compare Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston 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.
Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oak Forest-Garden Oaks, Houston 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.