Best PlacesStephen Creek, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stephen Creek, 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.
Stephen Creek ranks 41,476th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Stephen Creek
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.
Stephen Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stephen Creek ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 80% of towns
- Cheap childcare$592 a month, better than 79% of towns
Where Stephen Creek ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Stephen Creek
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stephen Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,625, 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 Stephen Creek's effective rate of 0.82%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Stephen Creek
Stephen Creek runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Stephen Creek.
Who works in Stephen Creek, and how
Work in Stephen Creek centers on health care & social and admin & support services. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Stephen Creek
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Stephen Creek.
What the weather is like in Stephen Creek, month by month
Stephen Creek sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 63, 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 | 63° | 51° | 43° |
| April | 81° | 69° | 60° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 83° | 71° | 61° |
Flying in and out of Stephen Creek
George Bush Intcntl/Houston sits about 49 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 23.3 million passengers in 2025, with 214 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Stephen Creek
Schools across Stephen Creek average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Coldspring IntD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lincoln J HD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Coldspring-oakhurst H SC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stephen Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stephen Creek 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 Stephen Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Stephen Creek
Is Stephen Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stephen Creek ranks 41,476th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, low taxes, and state finances, 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 Stephen Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $184,300. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $62,625 median income, cost of living beats 31% of towns.
Is Stephen Creek safe?
Stephen Creek is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $338 per resident a year.
Compare Stephen Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stephen Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stephen Creek 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.
Stephen Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stephen Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stephen Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stephen Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stephen Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stephen Creek 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.