Best PlacesStarr County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Starr County, 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.
Starr County ranks 3,065th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Starr 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.
Starr County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Starr County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 182 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 78% of counties
Where Starr County ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of counties
- Household income$39,765 median, better than only 1% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 2% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Starr County
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Starr County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $39,765, 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 Starr County's effective rate of 1.13%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Starr County
Starr County 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 Starr County.
Who works in Starr County, and how
Work in Starr County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Starr County
Starr County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of counties and more parkland per resident than 99% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Starr County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Starr County growing, and who is moving in?
Starr County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Mcallen, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Starr County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Starr County, month by month
Starr County 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 Starr County
The nearest airport, McAllen International, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 219 miles away.
The best schools in and around Starr County
Schools across Starr County average a D+, better than 9% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Emma Vera ElB · 48% proficient
- Florence J Scott ElB · 47% proficient
- Roel A & Celia R Saenz ElC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Veterans MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
- Ramiro Barrera MiddleD · 23% proficient
- Roma MiddleD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Preparatory For Early College H SC+ · 35% proficient
- Roma H SC− · 30% proficient
- Rio Grande City H SC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Starr County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Starr 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 Starr County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Starr County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Starr County
Is Starr County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Starr County ranks 3,065th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, fast internet, 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 Starr County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $101,927. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $39,765 median income, cost of living beats 2% of counties.
Is Starr County safe?
Starr County is safer than 7% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $738 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Starr County?
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 98% of counties.
Is Starr County good for families?
Schools beat 9% of counties, crime safety beats 7%, and childcare runs $664 a month.
Compare Starr County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Starr County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Starr 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.
Starr County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Starr County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Starr County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Starr County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Starr County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Starr 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.