Best PlacesPurmela, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Purmela, 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.
Purmela ranks 12,169th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Purmela
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.
Purmela's strengths and weaknesses
Where Purmela ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 136 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of towns
Where Purmela ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Purmela
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Purmela home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,627, 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 Purmela's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Purmela
Purmela 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 Purmela.
Who works in Purmela, and how
Work in Purmela centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Purmela
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Purmela.
What the weather is like in Purmela, month by month
Purmela sees roughly 136 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 61, 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 | 61° | 47° | 37° |
| April | 79° | 66° | 56° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 82° | 68° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Purmela
The nearest airport, Robert Gray AAF, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Austin-Bergstrom International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Purmela
Schools across Purmela average a C+, better than 41% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ann Whitney ElB− · 43% proficient
- Evant ElD− · 14% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hamilton J HB+ · 50% proficient
- Gatesville IntB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Hamilton H SA− · 62% proficient
- Gatesville H SB− · 44% proficient
- Evant H SC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Purmela school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Purmela 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 Purmela against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Purmela
Is Purmela a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Purmela ranks 12,169th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, low taxes, and civic engagement, and lowest on internet speeds and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Purmela expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $219,550. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $83,627 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Purmela safe?
Yes, Purmela is safer than 76% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $271 per resident a year.
Compare Purmela with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Purmela. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Purmela 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.
Purmela detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Purmela: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Purmela: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Purmela: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Purmela: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Purmela 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.