Best PlacesPanola County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Panola County, 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.
Panola County ranks 1,854th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Panola 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.
Panola County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Panola County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 76% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of counties
- Cheap childcare$574 a month, better than 76% of counties
Where Panola County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Panola County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Panola County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,642, 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 Panola County's effective rate of 0.91%, 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 Panola County
Panola County'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 Panola County.
Who works in Panola County, and how
Work in Panola County centers on health care & social and retail trade. 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 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Panola County
Panola County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Panola County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Panola County growing, and who is moving in?
Panola County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Longview, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Panola County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Panola County, month by month
Panola County sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 54° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Panola County
The nearest airport, East Texas Regional, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 154 miles away.
The best schools in and around Panola County
Schools across Panola County average a B, better than 73% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Beckville Sunset ElB+ · 53% proficient
- Libby ElB− · 41% proficient
- Elysian Fields ElC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tatum MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Elysian Fields MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- Joaquin J H SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Panola Early College H SA · 75% proficient
- Beckville Jr-sr High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Elysian Fields H SA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Panola County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Panola 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 Panola County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Panola County suits
Common questions about living in Panola County
Is Panola County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Panola County ranks 1,854th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on internet speeds and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Panola County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $161,552. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $65,642 median income, cost of living beats 54% of counties.
Is Panola County safe?
Panola County is safer than 28% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $482 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Panola County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 36. That works out to about 78 pleasant days a year, more than 36% of counties.
Is Panola County good for families?
Schools beat 73% of counties, crime safety beats 28%, and childcare runs $574 a month.
Compare Panola County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Panola County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Panola 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.
Panola County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Panola County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Panola County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Panola County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Panola County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Panola 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.