Best PlacesWard County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ward 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.
Ward County ranks 1,852nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ward 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.
Ward County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ward County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 174 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
Where Ward County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ward County
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ward County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,650, 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 Ward County's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ward County
Ward County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ward County.
Who works in Ward County, and how
Work in Ward County centers on mining & oil & gas and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Ward County
Ward County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Ward County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ward County growing, and who is moving in?
Ward County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Detroit, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ward County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ward County, month by month
Ward County sees roughly 174 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs March, April, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 45° | 32° |
| April | 85° | 67° | 52° |
| July | 99° | 85° | 73° |
| October | 84° | 67° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Ward County
The nearest airport, Midland International Air And Space Port, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 299 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ward County
Schools across Ward County average a C, better than 42% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Tatom ElC+ · 38% proficient
- Haynes ElC · 31% proficient
- Parkway ElC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Walker J HC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Monahans H SC+ · 40% proficient
- Pecos H SD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ward County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ward 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 Ward County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Ward County
Is Ward County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ward County ranks 1,852nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, the weather, and a stable housing market, and lowest on tree cover and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ward County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $151,663. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $69,650 median income, cost of living beats 62% of counties.
Is Ward County safe?
Ward County is safer than 5% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $755 per resident a year.
Compare Ward County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ward County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ward 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.
Ward County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ward County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ward County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ward County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ward County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ward 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.