Best PlacesSterling Ridge, The Woodlands, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands ranks 414th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and transit ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands
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.
Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands' strengths and weaknesses
Where Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- School gradeA, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Household income$174,570 median, better than 96% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
Where Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands ranks low
- TransitBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- Short commute29.6 minutes each way, better than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands
A household needs to earn about $187,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $174,570; 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 Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands' effective rate of 1.55%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands
Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands'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 Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands.
Who works in Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands, and how
Work in Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands centers on manufacturing and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands
Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands has more parkland per resident than 69% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands, month by month
Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 53° | 44° |
| April | 81° | 70° | 61° |
| July | 95° | 84° | 76° |
| October | 84° | 72° | 61° |
Flying in and out of Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands
George Bush Intcntl/Houston sits about 20 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 Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands
Schools across Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands average an A, better than 98% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Galatas ElA+ · 81% proficient
- Deretchin ElA+ · 76% proficient
- Tough ElA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mccullough J HA+ · 83% proficient
- Bear Branch J HA− · 53% proficient
- Bear Branch IntB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- The Woodlands H SA+ · 83% proficient
- Magnolia H SA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands 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 Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands
Is Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands ranks 414th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on what local pay buys, good schools, and high incomes, and lowest on transit and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $649,322. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $174,570 median income, cost of living beats 99% of neighborhoods.
Is Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands safe?
Yes, Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands is safer than 56% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $504 per resident a year.
Compare Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands 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.
Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sterling Ridge, The Woodlands 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.