Best PlacesTexas Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Texas, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Texas ranks 33rd of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. Its strengths are cell coverage and low taxes. The cost shows up in thin health care access, civic engagement, and summer heat.
The best neighborhoods in Texas
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.
The best areas in Texas
The counties of Texas, grouped by direction and ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the state.
Travis County, Williamson County & Bell County
Disaster risk is lower, more adults hold degrees, and local pay stretches further.
Tarrant County, Dallas County & Denton County
Big-city amenities are closer and heat risk is lower.
Kaufman County, Grayson County & Rockwall County
Scores close to Tarrant County, Dallas County & Denton County, except that biking is worse here.
Bexar County
Homes cost less, though incomes run lower.
Montgomery County, Brazos County & Smith County
Tree cover is thicker, though more homes sit empty.
Harris County
Crime runs higher.
Lubbock County, Randall County & Wichita County
Commutes are shorter and prices have run up less.
El Paso County
Hidalgo County, Cameron County & Nueces County
Health care is harder to reach.
Texas shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Texas' strengths and weaknesses
Texas lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Cell coverage, low taxes, and the weather carry most of that.
The one real hole is thin health care access, near the bottom of the country. Civic engagement and summer heat also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Texas ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of states
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of states
- Nice weatherabout 138 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of states
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 85% of states
- Internet speedBetter than 83% of states
Where Texas ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of states
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of states
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of states
- Air qualityBetter than only 11% of states
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 12% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Texas
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Texas home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $89,610; 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 Texas' effective rate of 1.39%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Texas
Texas runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Texas.
Who works in Texas, and how
Work in Texas centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Texas
Texas has 367 miles of ocean coastline. Distance to the water changes a lot across Texas, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Texas, month by month
Texas sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 49. The comfortable stretch runs October through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 55° | 49° |
| April | 80° | 71° | 64° |
| July | 94° | 85° | 79° |
| October | 83° | 74° | 67° |
The best schools in and around Texas
Schools across Texas average a C+, better than 61% of states.
Top elementary schools
- School For The Highly GiftedA+ · 93% proficient
- Carver CenterA+ · 91% proficient
- Creekside Forest ElA+ · 90% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lawler MiddleA+ · 90% proficient
- William B Travis Vanguard Acad Of Academically TagA+ · 89% proficient
- George Dawson MiddleA+ · 87% proficient
Top high schools
- Lasa H SA+ · 99% proficient
- School For The Talented And GiftedA+ · 98% proficient
- School Of Science And EngineeringA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Texas school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Texas 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 Texas against the other 49 states.
Who Texas suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of states, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Texas
Is Texas a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Texas ranks 33rd of 50 states. It scores highest on cell coverage, low taxes, and the weather, and lowest on thin health care access and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Texas expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $317,196. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $89,610 median income, cost of living beats 85% of states.
Is Texas safe?
Texas is safer than 25% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $484 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Texas?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 49. That works out to about 138 pleasant days a year, more than 87% of states.
What are the best areas in Texas?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Travis County, Williamson County & Bell County, Tarrant County, Dallas County & Denton County, and Kaufman County, Grayson County & Rockwall County. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Texas good for families?
Schools beat 61% of states, crime safety beats 25%, and childcare runs $794 a month.
Is Texas good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of states, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 83% of states. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare Texas with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Texas. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Texas 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.
Texas detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Texas: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Texas: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Texas: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Texas: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Texas 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.
- 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.