Best PlacesVan, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Van, 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.
Van ranks 30,667th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Van
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.
Van's strengths and weaknesses
Where Van ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap childcare$574 a month, better than 81% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
Where Van ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 14% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Van
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Van home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,346, 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 Van's effective rate of 1.27%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Van
Van'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 Van.
Who works in Van, and how
Work in Van centers on construction and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Van
Van has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Van and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Van, month by month
Van sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 65° | 55° |
| July | 93° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Van
The nearest airport, Tyler Pounds Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Van
Schools across Van average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Van IntB− · 40% proficient
- Grand Saline IntC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- E J Moss IntA · 59% proficient
- Van J HB− · 42% proficient
- Van MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Lindale H SA · 78% proficient
- Van H SB · 47% proficient
- Grand Saline H SC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Van school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Van 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 Van against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Van
Is Van a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Van ranks 30,667th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, cell coverage, and walkability, and lowest on crime and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Van expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $194,691. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $70,346 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Van safe?
Van is safer than 11% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $660 per resident a year.
Compare Van with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Van. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Van 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.
Van detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Van: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Van: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Van: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Van: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Van 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.