Best PlacesPort Arthur, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Port Arthur, 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.
Port Arthur ranks 2,096th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Port Arthur
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.
Port Arthur's strengths and weaknesses
Where Port Arthur ranks high
- Cheap childcare$624 a month, better than 95% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- Short commute23.6 minutes each way, better than 67% of cities
Where Port Arthur ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Household income$50,843 median, better than only 1% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Port Arthur
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Port Arthur home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,843, 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 Port Arthur's effective rate of 1.34%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Port Arthur
Port Arthur runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Port Arthur.
Who works in Port Arthur, and how
Work in Port Arthur centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Port Arthur
Port Arthur has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. The coast is about 40 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Port Arthur and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Port Arthur, month by month
Port Arthur sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 54° | 43° |
| April | 81° | 70° | 59° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 75° |
| October | 85° | 72° | 61° |
Flying in and out of Port Arthur
The nearest airport, Jack Brooks Regional, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is William P Hobby, about 82 miles away.
The best schools in and around Port Arthur
Schools across Port Arthur average a D, better than 7% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Helena Park ElA− · 57% proficient
- Hamshire-fannett ElB+ · 55% proficient
- Ridgewood ElB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wilson MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Central MiddleB+ · 47% proficient
- Port Neches MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Nederland H SB+ · 58% proficient
- Bridge City H SB+ · 54% proficient
- Port Neches-groves H SB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Port Arthur school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Port Arthur 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 Port Arthur against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Port Arthur suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Port Arthur
Is Port Arthur a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Port Arthur ranks 2,096th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low taxes, and state finances, and lowest on disaster risk and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Port Arthur expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $133,916. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $50,843 median income, cost of living beats 5% of cities.
Is Port Arthur safe?
Port Arthur is safer than 3% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $779 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Port Arthur?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 67 with lows near 43. That works out to about 92 pleasant days a year, more than 55% of cities.
Is Port Arthur good for families?
Schools beat 7% of cities, crime safety beats 3%, and childcare runs $624 a month.
Compare Port Arthur with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Port Arthur. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Port Arthur 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.
Port Arthur detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Port Arthur: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Port Arthur: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Port Arthur: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Port Arthur: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Port Arthur 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.