Best PlacesSugarland, Houston, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sugarland, 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.
Sugarland, Houston ranks 5,289th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 39 minutes away. Its strengths are state finances and low taxes. The cost shows up in disaster risk, civic engagement, and thin health care access.
The best neighborhoods in Sugarland, 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.
Sugarland, Houston's strengths and weaknesses
Sugarland, 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: disaster risk, civic engagement, 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 Sugarland, 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
- Cell coverageBetter than 76% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 76% of neighborhoods
Where Sugarland, Houston ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Sugarland, Houston
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sugarland, Houston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,036, 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 Sugarland, Houston's effective rate of 1.26%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sugarland, Houston
Sugarland, Houston 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 Sugarland, Houston.
Who works in Sugarland, Houston, and how
Work in Sugarland, Houston centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Sugarland, Houston
Sugarland, Houston has less late-night activity than most neighborhoods. The coast is about 39 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Sugarland, Houston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Sugarland, Houston, month by month
Sugarland, Houston sees roughly 127 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 55° | 46° |
| April | 82° | 71° | 62° |
| July | 95° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 85° | 73° | 63° |
Flying in and out of Sugarland, Houston
William P Hobby sits about 19 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 Sugarland, Houston
Schools across Sugarland, Houston average a C, better than 62% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Kipp Shine PrepB− · 41% proficient
- Alief Montessori Community SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Barrington Place ElC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dulles MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Kipp Academy MiddleB− · 39% proficient
- Harmony School Of Innovation - HoustonC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Kerr H SA+ · 85% proficient
- Dulles H SA− · 63% proficient
- Kempner H SB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sugarland, Houston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sugarland, 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 Sugarland, Houston against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Sugarland, Houston suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 65% of neighborhoods and it is quieter than 76%.
Common questions about living in Sugarland, Houston
Is Sugarland, Houston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sugarland, Houston ranks 5,289th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on state finances, low taxes, and affordable childcare, and lowest on disaster risk and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sugarland, Houston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $192,279. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $55,036 median income, cost of living beats 31% of neighborhoods.
Is Sugarland, Houston safe?
Sugarland, Houston is safer than 29% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $734 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sugarland, Houston?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 46. That works out to about 127 pleasant days a year, more than 65% of neighborhoods.
Is Sugarland, Houston good for families?
Schools beat 62% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 29%, and childcare runs $842 a month.
Is Sugarland, Houston good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 31% of neighborhoods, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 68% of neighborhoods. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare Sugarland, Houston with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sugarland, Houston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sugarland, 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.
Sugarland, Houston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sugarland, Houston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sugarland, Houston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sugarland, Houston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sugarland, Houston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sugarland, 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.