Best PlacesSoutheast, Houston, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Southeast, Houston, 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.
Southeast, Houston ranks 5,274th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 23 minutes away. Its strengths are state finances and low taxes. The cost shows up in air quality, disaster risk, and thin health care access.
The best neighborhoods in Southeast, Houston
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.
Southeast, Houston's strengths and weaknesses
Southeast, Houston ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. State finances, low taxes, and affordable childcare carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: air quality, disaster risk, and thin health care access all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Southeast, Houston ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$842 a month, better than 83% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 74% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 132 pleasant days a year, better than 68% of neighborhoods
Where Southeast, Houston ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD, better than only 16% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Southeast, Houston
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Southeast, Houston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $58,904; 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 Southeast, Houston's effective rate of 1.24%, 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 Southeast, Houston
Southeast, Houston runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Southeast, Houston.
Who works in Southeast, Houston, and how
Work in Southeast, Houston centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Southeast, Houston
Southeast, Houston has more parkland per resident than 76% of neighborhoods and less late-night activity than most neighborhoods. The coast is about 23 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Southeast, Houston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Southeast, Houston, month by month
Southeast, Houston sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 47. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 55° | 47° |
| April | 81° | 71° | 63° |
| July | 95° | 85° | 78° |
| October | 85° | 74° | 66° |
Flying in and out of Southeast, Houston
William P Hobby sits about 2 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 6.8 million passengers in 2025, with 101 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Southeast, Houston
Schools across Southeast, Houston average a D, better than 16% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Houston Gateway AcademyB+ · 54% proficient
- Arlyne & Alan Weber ElB · 45% proficient
- Deanda ElB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Westbrook IntA+ · 69% proficient
- Baylor College Of Medicine Academy At RyanC+ · 36% proficient
- Stevenson MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Energy Institute H SA · 69% proficient
- Pasadena Memorial H SA− · 60% proficient
- Clear Brook H SB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Southeast, Houston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Southeast, Houston 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 Southeast, Houston against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Southeast, Houston suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Southeast, Houston
Is Southeast, Houston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Southeast, Houston ranks 5,274th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on state finances, low taxes, and affordable childcare, and lowest on air quality and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Southeast, Houston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $213,928. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $58,904 median income, cost of living beats 34% of neighborhoods.
Is Southeast, Houston safe?
Southeast, Houston is safer than 20% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $876 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Southeast, Houston?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 47. That works out to about 132 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of neighborhoods.
Is Southeast, Houston good for families?
Schools beat 16% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 20%, and childcare runs $842 a month.
Is Southeast, Houston good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 34% of neighborhoods, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 64% of neighborhoods. About 11% of workers already work from home.
Compare Southeast, Houston with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Southeast, Houston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Southeast, Houston 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.
Southeast, Houston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Southeast, Houston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Southeast, Houston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Southeast, Houston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Southeast, Houston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Southeast, Houston 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.