Best PlacesWharton County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wharton 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.
Wharton County ranks 1,916th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wharton 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.
Wharton County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wharton County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 169 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 80% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of counties
Where Wharton County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 5% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 11% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wharton County
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wharton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,099, 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 Wharton County's effective rate of 1.30%, 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 Wharton County
Wharton County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wharton County.
Who works in Wharton County, and how
Work in Wharton County centers on manufacturing 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 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Wharton County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wharton County.
Is Wharton County growing, and who is moving in?
Wharton County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Houston, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wharton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wharton County, month by month
Wharton County sees roughly 169 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 53° | 45° |
| April | 80° | 69° | 60° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 84° | 72° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Wharton County
The nearest airport, Victoria Regional, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is William P Hobby, about 60 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wharton County
Schools across Wharton County average a C+, better than 46% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- East Bernard ElB · 50% proficient
- Northside ElB · 46% proficient
- Hallettsville ElB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Bernard J HA− · 53% proficient
- Hallettsville J HB · 43% proficient
- Iago J HB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- East Bernard H SA− · 65% proficient
- Hallettsville H SB+ · 55% proficient
- Boling H SB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wharton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wharton 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 Wharton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Wharton County suits
Common questions about living in Wharton County
Is Wharton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wharton County ranks 1,916th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, low taxes, and big-city access, and lowest on air quality and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wharton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $211,590. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $72,099 median income, cost of living beats 50% of counties.
Is Wharton County safe?
Wharton County is safer than 21% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $545 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wharton County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 65 with lows near 45. That works out to about 169 pleasant days a year, more than 96% of counties.
Is Wharton County good for families?
Schools beat 46% of counties, crime safety beats 21%, and childcare runs $842 a month.
Compare Wharton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wharton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wharton 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.
Wharton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wharton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wharton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wharton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wharton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wharton 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.