Best PlacesSmith County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Smith 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.
Smith County ranks 902nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on low disaster risk and low taxes. The weaker spots are summer heat, civic engagement, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Smith 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 Smith County
The parts of Smith 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.
Flint & Bullard
More adults hold degrees, more residents vote, and local pay stretches further.
Whitehouse
Fewer homes sit empty and more households have young kids.
Lindale
Scores close to Whitehouse, except that it is noisier here.
Tyler
Incomes run lower.
Winona
Homes cost less, though schools score lower.
Smith County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Smith County's strengths and weaknesses
Smith County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low disaster risk, low taxes, and cell coverage carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Summer heat, civic engagement, and property taxes hold the score down. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Smith County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 78% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of counties
- Cheap childcare$574 a month, better than 76% of counties
Where Smith County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 21% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 24% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Smith County
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Smith County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,740, 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 Smith County's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 Smith County
Smith County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Smith County.
Who works in Smith County, and how
Work in Smith County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Smith County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Smith County.
Is Smith County growing, and who is moving in?
Smith County has grown about 13% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Dallas, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Smith County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Smith County, month by month
Smith County sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 48° | 39° |
| April | 78° | 66° | 57° |
| July | 95° | 84° | 76° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Smith County
The nearest airport, Tyler Pounds Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 97 miles away.
The best schools in and around Smith County
Schools across Smith County average a B−, better than 69% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Stanton-smith ElA+ · 73% proficient
- Velma Penny ElA · 65% proficient
- Gus Winston Cain ElA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lindale J HA+ · 74% proficient
- J W Holloway Sixth Grade SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Whitehouse J HA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Tyler Isd Early College H SA+ · 80% proficient
- Lindale H SA · 78% proficient
- Whitehouse H SA · 71% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Smith County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Smith 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 Smith County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Smith County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Smith County
Is Smith County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Smith County ranks 902nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, low taxes, and cell coverage, and lowest on summer heat and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Smith County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $248,802. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $79,740 median income, cost of living beats 75% of counties.
Is Smith County safe?
Smith County is safer than 42% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $446 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Smith County?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 39. That works out to about 104 pleasant days a year, more than 63% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Smith County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Flint & Bullard, Whitehouse, and Lindale. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Smith County good for families?
Schools beat 69% of counties, crime safety beats 42%, and childcare runs $574 a month.
Is Smith County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 71% of counties. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Smith County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Smith County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Smith 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.
Smith County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Smith County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Smith County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Smith County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Smith County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Smith 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.