Best PlacesSutton County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sutton 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.
Sutton County ranks 1,477th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sutton 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.
Sutton County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sutton County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 158 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of counties
Where Sutton County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sutton County
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sutton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,948, 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 Sutton County's effective rate of 1.59%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sutton County
Sutton County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sutton County.
Who works in Sutton County, and how
Work in Sutton County centers on mining & oil & gas and education. 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 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Sutton County
Sutton County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Sutton County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sutton County growing, and who is moving in?
Sutton County has lost about 18% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Howard County, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sutton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sutton County, month by month
Sutton County sees roughly 158 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 46° | 34° |
| April | 82° | 67° | 55° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Sutton County
The nearest airport, San Angelo Regional/Mathis Field, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 147 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sutton County
Schools across Sutton County average a B+, better than 85% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sonora ElB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Sonora Secondary SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sutton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sutton 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 Sutton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Sutton County
Is Sutton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sutton County ranks 1,477th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, the weather, and a stable housing market, and lowest on a weak job market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sutton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $154,327. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $91,948 median income, cost of living beats 96% of counties.
Is Sutton County safe?
Sutton County is safer than 9% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $745 per resident a year.
Compare Sutton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sutton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sutton 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.
Sutton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sutton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sutton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sutton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sutton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sutton 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.