Best PlacesOld Salem, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Old Salem, 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.
Old Salem ranks 45,597th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Old Salem
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.
Old Salem's strengths and weaknesses
Where Old Salem ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 83% of towns
Where Old Salem ranks low
- Short commute42.1 minutes each way, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Old Salem
A household needs to earn about $22,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Old Salem home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,693, 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 Old Salem's effective rate of 0.84%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Old Salem
Old Salem runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Old Salem.
Who works in Old Salem, and how
Work in Old Salem centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Old Salem
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Old Salem.
What the weather is like in Old Salem, month by month
Old Salem sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 51° | 42° |
| April | 78° | 67° | 58° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Old Salem
The nearest airport, Jack Brooks Regional, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 101 miles away.
The best schools in and around Old Salem
Schools across Old Salem average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Deweyville ElC · 35% proficient
- Newton ElD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newton MiddleC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Newton H SC+ · 35% proficient
- Deweyville H SC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Old Salem school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Old Salem 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 Old Salem against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Old Salem
Is Old Salem a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Old Salem ranks 45,597th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, quiet, and tree cover, and lowest on long commutes and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Old Salem expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $82,600. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $51,693 median income, cost of living beats 12% of towns.
Is Old Salem safe?
Old Salem is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $576 per resident a year.
Compare Old Salem with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Old Salem. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Old Salem 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.
Old Salem detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Old Salem: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Old Salem: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Old Salem: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Old Salem: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Old Salem 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.