Best PlacesSan Benito, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around San Benito, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
San Benito ranks 2,052nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in San Benito
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.
San Benito's strengths and weaknesses
Where San Benito ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 179 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of cities
- Cheap childcare$712 a month, better than 88% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of cities
Where San Benito ranks low
- Household income$51,820 median, better than only 2% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in San Benito
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Benito home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,820, 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 San Benito's effective rate of 1.16%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in San Benito
San Benito runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for San Benito.
Who works in San Benito, and how
Work in San Benito centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in San Benito
San Benito has more restaurants and bars per resident than 65% of cities. The coast is about 37 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of San Benito and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in San Benito, month by month
San Benito sees roughly 179 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 73, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 73° | 60° | 51° |
| April | 87° | 75° | 66° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 88° | 76° | 66° |
Flying in and out of San Benito
The nearest airport, Valley International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 242 miles away.
The best schools in and around San Benito
Schools across San Benito average a D, better than 6% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Laureles ElC+ · 37% proficient
- Palmer-laakso ElC+ · 37% proficient
- Dora Romero ElC+ · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Texas Isd Rising Scholars AcademyA · 62% proficient
- Liberty Memorial MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
- Los Cuates MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Brownsville Early College H SA · 73% proficient
- Harlingen Collegiate H SA− · 60% proficient
- Los Fresnos H SB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Benito school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Benito 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 San Benito against the other 2,097 cities.
Who San Benito suits
Common questions about living in San Benito
Is San Benito a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Benito ranks 2,052nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a stable housing market, the weather, and low taxes, and lowest on low incomes and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Benito expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $104,230. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $51,820 median income, cost of living beats 7% of cities.
Is San Benito safe?
San Benito is safer than 36% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $436 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in San Benito?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 73 with lows near 51. That works out to about 179 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of cities.
Is San Benito good for families?
Schools beat 6% of cities, crime safety beats 36%, and childcare runs $712 a month.
Compare San Benito with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Benito. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Benito 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.
San Benito detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Benito: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Benito: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Benito: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Benito: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Benito 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.