Best PlacesPennington, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pennington, 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.
Pennington ranks 45,766th 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 Pennington
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.
Pennington's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pennington ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
- QuietBetter than 89% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
Where Pennington ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$44,192 median, better than only 7% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pennington
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pennington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $44,192, 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 Pennington's effective rate of 0.95%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pennington
Pennington 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 Pennington.
Who works in Pennington, and how
Work in Pennington centers on agriculture & forestry and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Pennington
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Pennington.
What the weather is like in Pennington, month by month
Pennington sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 39° |
| April | 78° | 66° | 57° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 73° |
| October | 82° | 68° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Pennington
The nearest airport, Easterwood Field, is about 80 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pennington
Schools across Pennington average a B−, better than 56% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Groveton ElC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crockett J HC− · 29% proficient
- Trinity J HD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Lovelady J H H SB+ · 57% proficient
- Crockett H SC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pennington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pennington 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 Pennington against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pennington
Is Pennington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pennington ranks 45,766th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, civic engagement, and quiet, and lowest on summer heat and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pennington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $202,227. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $44,192 median income, cost of living beats 7% of towns.
Is Pennington safe?
Pennington is safer than 10% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $667 per resident a year.
Compare Pennington with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pennington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pennington 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.
Pennington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pennington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pennington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pennington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pennington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pennington 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.