Best PlacesRains County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rains 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.
Rains County ranks 1,960th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rains 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.
Rains County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rains County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 91% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 86% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of counties
Where Rains County ranks low
- Short commute35.6 minutes each way, better than only 3% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 9% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 11% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Rains County
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rains County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $68,695; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Rains County's effective rate of 1.13%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rains County
Rains County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rains County.
Who works in Rains County, and how
Work in Rains County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Rains County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rains County.
Is Rains County growing, and who is moving in?
Rains County has grown about 21% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Dallas, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Rains County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Rains County, month by month
Rains County sees roughly 123 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° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Rains County
The nearest airport, Tyler Pounds Regional, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rains County
Schools across Rains County average a C−, better than 25% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lone Oak ElC · 33% proficient
- Alba-golden ElC− · 29% proficient
- Rains IntC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lone Oak MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Rains J HD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Lone Oak H SB · 50% proficient
- Rains H SC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rains County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rains 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 Rains County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Rains County
Is Rains County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rains County ranks 1,960th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, low taxes, and big-city access, and lowest on long commutes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rains County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $252,638. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $68,695 median income, cost of living beats 40% of counties.
Is Rains County safe?
Rains County is safer than 53% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $379 per resident a year.
Compare Rains County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rains County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rains 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.
Rains County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rains County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rains County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rains County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rains County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rains 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.