Best PlacesPayne Springs, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Payne Springs, 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.
Payne Springs ranks 30,599th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Payne Springs
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.
Payne Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Payne Springs ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 141 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 81% of towns
- Cheap childcare$574 a month, better than 81% of towns
Where Payne Springs ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Short commute36.3 minutes each way, better than only 11% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 18% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Payne Springs
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Payne Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,172, 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 Payne Springs' effective rate of 0.79%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Payne Springs
Payne Springs runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Payne Springs.
Who works in Payne Springs, and how
Work in Payne Springs centers on education and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Payne Springs
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Payne Springs.
What the weather is like in Payne Springs, month by month
Payne Springs sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 65° | 55° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Payne Springs
The nearest airport, Tyler Pounds Regional, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 59 miles away.
The best schools in and around Payne Springs
Schools across Payne Springs average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eustace IntC+ · 37% proficient
- Southside ElC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Eustace MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Mabank IntC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Mabank H SB · 50% proficient
- Eustace H SB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Payne Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Payne Springs 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 Payne Springs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Payne Springs
Is Payne Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Payne Springs ranks 30,599th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, the weather, and low disaster risk, 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 Payne Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $223,809. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $71,172 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Payne Springs safe?
Payne Springs is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $446 per resident a year.
Compare Payne Springs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Payne Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Payne Springs 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.
Payne Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Payne Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Payne Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Payne Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Payne Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Payne Springs 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.