Best PlacesVan Zandt County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Van Zandt County, 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.
Van Zandt County ranks 1,553rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Long commutes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Van Zandt 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.
The best areas in Van Zandt County
The parts of Van Zandt County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Ben Wheeler & Van
Tree cover is thicker, it is quieter, and prices have run up less.
Canton
More households have young kids and more adults hold degrees.
Wills Point
Schools score lower.
Grand Saline
Commutes are shorter, though incomes run lower.
Scores across Van Zandt County run from about the 7th to the 84th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Van Zandt County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Van Zandt County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 89% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 79% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of counties
Where Van Zandt County ranks low
- Short commute36.8 minutes each way, better than only 2% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 16% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 21% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Van Zandt County
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Van Zandt County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,966, 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 Zandt County's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 Van Zandt County
Van Zandt County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Van Zandt County.
Who works in Van Zandt County, and how
Work in Van Zandt County centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Van Zandt County
Van Zandt County has more parkland per resident than 89% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Van Zandt County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Van Zandt County growing, and who is moving in?
Van Zandt County has grown about 24% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Dallas, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Van Zandt County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Van Zandt County, month by month
Van Zandt County sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 46° | 36° |
| April | 77° | 65° | 55° |
| July | 96° | 84° | 75° |
| October | 81° | 68° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Van Zandt County
The nearest airport, Tyler Pounds Regional, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 62 miles away.
The best schools in and around Van Zandt County
Schools across Van Zandt County average a B−, better than 69% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Martins Mill ElB · 45% proficient
- Central ElB · 45% proficient
- Canton IntB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- E J Moss IntA · 59% proficient
- Mineola MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Canton J HB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Lindale H SA · 78% proficient
- Canton H SA · 72% proficient
- Martins Mill H SB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Van Zandt County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Van Zandt 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 Van Zandt County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Van Zandt County suits
Common questions about living in Van Zandt County
Is Van Zandt County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Van Zandt County ranks 1,553rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, a strong job market, and big-city access, and lowest on long commutes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Van Zandt County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $236,921. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $71,966 median income, cost of living beats 53% of counties.
Is Van Zandt County safe?
Yes, Van Zandt County is safer than 57% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $391 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Van Zandt County?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 36. That works out to about 120 pleasant days a year, more than 75% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Van Zandt County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Ben Wheeler & Van, Canton, and Wills Point. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Van Zandt County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Van Zandt County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Van Zandt 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.
Van Zandt County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Van Zandt County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Van Zandt County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Van Zandt County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Van Zandt County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Van Zandt 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.