Best PlacesSmithville, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Smithville, 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.
Smithville ranks 17,023rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Smithville
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.
Smithville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Smithville ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 163 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of towns
- BikingBetter than 81% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
Where Smithville ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 11% of towns
- Short commute31.8 minutes each way, better than only 25% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Smithville
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Smithville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $73,886; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Smithville's effective rate of 1.09%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Smithville
Smithville's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Smithville.
Who works in Smithville, and how
Work in Smithville centers on retail trade and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Smithville
Smithville has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Smithville and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Smithville, month by month
Smithville sees roughly 163 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 81° | 70° | 61° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 84° | 72° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Smithville
Austin-Bergstrom International sits about 33 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 10.7 million passengers in 2025, with 127 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Smithville
Schools across Smithville average a B−, better than 59% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mina ElB · 47% proficient
- Flatonia ElB · 47% proficient
- Smithville ElB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- La Grange MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Smithville J HB− · 42% proficient
- Bastrop IntC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- La Grange H SB+ · 53% proficient
- Smithville H SB− · 45% proficient
- Bastrop H SC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Smithville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Smithville 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 Smithville against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Smithville
Is Smithville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Smithville ranks 17,023rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, low taxes, and walkability, and lowest on summer heat and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Smithville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $274,627. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $73,886 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Smithville safe?
Smithville is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $349 per resident a year.
Compare Smithville with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Smithville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Smithville 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.
Smithville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Smithville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Smithville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Smithville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Smithville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Smithville 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.