Best PlacesSan Jacinto County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in San Jacinto County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
San Jacinto County ranks 2,709th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in San Jacinto 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.
The best areas in San Jacinto County
The parts of San Jacinto County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Shepherd
More households have young kids, heat risk is lower, and homes cost less.
Coldspring
Cleveland
Fewer homes sit empty, though local pay stretches less far.
Scores across San Jacinto County run from about the 3rd to the 47th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
San Jacinto County's strengths and weaknesses
Where San Jacinto County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 97% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of counties
- QuietBetter than 89% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 85% of counties
Where San Jacinto County ranks low
- Short commute40.6 minutes each way, better than only 1% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 3% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in San Jacinto County
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Jacinto County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,030, 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 Jacinto County's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 7 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 Jacinto County
San Jacinto County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for San Jacinto County.
Who works in San Jacinto County, and how
Work in San Jacinto County centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in San Jacinto County
San Jacinto County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of San Jacinto County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is San Jacinto County growing, and who is moving in?
San Jacinto County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Houston, TX metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving San Jacinto County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in San Jacinto County, month by month
San Jacinto County sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 50° | 41° |
| April | 80° | 68° | 57° |
| July | 95° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 83° | 69° | 58° |
Flying in and out of San Jacinto County
George Bush Intcntl/Houston sits about 41 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 23.3 million passengers in 2025, with 214 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around San Jacinto County
Schools across San Jacinto County average a D+, better than 15% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Edward B Cannan ElC− · 29% proficient
- Coldspring IntD+ · 21% proficient
- Eastside ElD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lynn Lucas MiddleC− · 29% proficient
- Lincoln J HD · 22% proficient
- Shepherd MiddleD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Willis H SC+ · 39% proficient
- Coldspring-oakhurst H SC+ · 37% proficient
- Cleveland H SC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Jacinto County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Jacinto 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 San Jacinto County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who San Jacinto County suits
Common questions about living in San Jacinto County
Is San Jacinto County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Jacinto County ranks 2,709th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, low taxes, and big-city access, and lowest on long commutes and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Jacinto County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $210,090. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $67,030 median income, cost of living beats 36% of counties.
Is San Jacinto County safe?
San Jacinto County is safer than 49% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $394 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in San Jacinto County?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 63 with lows near 41. That works out to about 103 pleasant days a year, more than 63% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in San Jacinto County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Shepherd, Coldspring, and Cleveland. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare San Jacinto County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Jacinto County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Jacinto 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.
San Jacinto County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Jacinto County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Jacinto County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Jacinto County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Jacinto County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Jacinto 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.