Best PlacesPalava, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Palava, 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.
Palava ranks 29,137th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Palava
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.
Palava's strengths and weaknesses
Where Palava ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap childcare$571 a month, better than 82% of towns
Where Palava ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Palava
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Palava home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,679, 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 Palava's effective rate of 1.00%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Palava
Palava 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 Palava.
Who works in Palava, and how
Work in Palava centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Palava
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Palava.
What the weather is like in Palava, month by month
Palava sees roughly 84 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 Palava
The nearest airport, Abilene Regional, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 195 miles away.
The best schools in and around Palava
Schools across Palava average a D+, better than 16% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- East Ridge ElD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sweetwater MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Sweetwater H SD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Palava school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Palava 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 Palava against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Palava
Is Palava a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Palava ranks 29,137th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, a stable housing market, and low taxes, and lowest on summer heat and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Palava expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $131,302. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $77,679 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Palava safe?
Palava is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $542 per resident a year.
Compare Palava with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Palava. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Palava 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.
Palava detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Palava: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Palava: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Palava: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Palava: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Palava 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.