Best PlacesRayland, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rayland, 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.
Rayland ranks 38,755th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rayland
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.
Rayland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rayland ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 141 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
- Short commute20.0 minutes each way, better than 88% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
Where Rayland ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rayland
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rayland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,335, 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 Rayland's effective rate of 1.02%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rayland
Rayland 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 Rayland.
Who works in Rayland, and how
Work in Rayland centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Rayland
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rayland.
What the weather is like in Rayland, month by month
Rayland sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 42° | 32° |
| April | 79° | 64° | 52° |
| July | 99° | 86° | 75° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Rayland
The nearest airport, Sheppard AFB/Wichita Falls Municipal, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 161 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rayland
Schools across Rayland average a C, better than 31% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Reagan ElC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Travis MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Vernon MiddleC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Quanah H SB+ · 57% proficient
- Vernon H SC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rayland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rayland 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 Rayland against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rayland
Is Rayland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rayland ranks 38,755th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, a stable housing market, and the weather, and lowest on civic engagement and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rayland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $93,124. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $65,335 median income, cost of living beats 57% of towns.
Is Rayland safe?
Rayland is safer than 11% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $623 per resident a year.
Compare Rayland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rayland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rayland 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.
Rayland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rayland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rayland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rayland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rayland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rayland 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.