Best PlacesSan Juan, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around San Juan, 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.
San Juan ranks 2,060th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in San Juan
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 Juan's strengths and weaknesses
Where San Juan ranks high
- Cheap childcare$664 a month, better than 92% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 182 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 80% of cities
Where San Juan ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Household income$57,465 median, better than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in San Juan
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Juan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,465, 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 Juan's effective rate of 1.78%, 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 4 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 Juan
San Juan 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 Juan.
Who works in San Juan, and how
Work in San Juan centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in San Juan
San Juan has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of cities and more parkland per resident than 78% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of San Juan and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in San Juan, month by month
San Juan sees roughly 182 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 74, with lows near 52. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 74° | 62° | 52° |
| April | 90° | 77° | 69° |
| July | 99° | 87° | 78° |
| October | 90° | 78° | 69° |
Flying in and out of San Juan
The nearest airport, McAllen International, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 231 miles away.
The best schools in and around San Juan
Schools across San Juan average a C−, better than 15% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Alfonso Ramirez ElC · 35% proficient
- Arnoldo Cantu Sr ElC− · 30% proficient
- Idea Academy San JuanC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- South MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
- Diaz J HC− · 29% proficient
- R Yzaguirre MiddleD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Psja Early College H SB · 49% proficient
- Psja Thomas Jefferson T-stem Early College H SB · 47% proficient
- Idea College Preparatory San JuanC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Juan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Juan 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 Juan against the other 2,097 cities.
Who San Juan suits
Common questions about living in San Juan
Is San Juan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Juan ranks 2,060th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, the weather, and low taxes, and lowest on thin health care access 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 Juan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $122,166. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $57,465 median income, cost of living beats 11% of cities.
Is San Juan safe?
San Juan is safer than 18% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $519 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in San Juan?
July highs average about 99 degrees, and January highs near 74 with lows near 52. That works out to about 182 pleasant days a year, more than 90% of cities.
Is San Juan good for families?
Schools beat 15% of cities, crime safety beats 18%, and childcare runs $664 a month.
Compare San Juan with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Juan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Juan 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 Juan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Juan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Juan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Juan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Juan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Juan 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.