Best PlacesTomball, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Tomball, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Tomball ranks 658th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Tomball
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.
Tomball's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tomball ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 88% of cities
Where Tomball ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 7% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of cities
- Short commute31.9 minutes each way, better than only 15% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 16% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 17% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Tomball
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tomball home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $122,316, 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 Tomball's effective rate of 1.73%, 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 Tomball
Tomball 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 Tomball.
Who works in Tomball, and how
Work in Tomball centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Tomball
Tomball has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of cities and more parkland per resident than 77% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Tomball and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Tomball, month by month
Tomball 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 Tomball
George Bush Intcntl/Houston sits about 17 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 Tomball
Schools across Tomball average a B+, better than 81% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Willow Creek ElA · 69% proficient
- Swenke ElA · 66% proficient
- Creekview ElA · 66% proficient
Top middle schools
- Salyards MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Willow Wood J HA+ · 69% proficient
- Goodson MiddleA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- Tomball Star AcademyA+ · 91% proficient
- Cypress Woods H SA+ · 81% proficient
- Cypress Ranch H SA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tomball school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tomball 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 Tomball against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Tomball suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Tomball
Is Tomball a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tomball ranks 658th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on what local pay buys, few empty homes, and low taxes, and lowest on air quality and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tomball expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $360,961. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $122,316 median income, cost of living beats 90% of cities.
Is Tomball safe?
Yes, Tomball is safer than 64% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $335 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Tomball?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 65 with lows near 44. That works out to about 111 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of cities.
Is Tomball good for families?
Schools beat 81% of cities, crime safety beats 64%, and childcare runs $842 a month.
Compare Tomball with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tomball. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tomball 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.
Tomball detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tomball: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tomball: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tomball: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tomball: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tomball 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.