Best PlacesWheeler County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wheeler 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.
Wheeler County ranks 2,056th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wheeler 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.
Wheeler County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wheeler County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of counties
Where Wheeler County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wheeler County
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wheeler County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,680, 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 Wheeler County's effective rate of 1.44%, 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 Wheeler County
Wheeler County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wheeler County.
Who works in Wheeler County, and how
Work in Wheeler County centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Wheeler County
Wheeler County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Wheeler County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Wheeler County growing, and who is moving in?
Wheeler County has lost about 15% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Victoria, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wheeler County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wheeler County, month by month
Wheeler County sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 36° | 23° |
| April | 76° | 59° | 44° |
| July | 96° | 82° | 68° |
| October | 77° | 60° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Wheeler County
The nearest airport, Rick Husband Amarillo International, is about 82 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 251 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wheeler County
Schools across Wheeler County average a B−, better than 63% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Shamrock ElC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Shamrock MiddleD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Shamrock H SC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wheeler County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wheeler 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 Wheeler County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Wheeler County
Is Wheeler County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wheeler County ranks 2,056th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, clean air, and low taxes, and lowest on internet speeds and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wheeler County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $121,005. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $61,680 median income, cost of living beats 55% of counties.
Is Wheeler County safe?
Wheeler County is safer than 18% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $557 per resident a year.
Compare Wheeler County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wheeler County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wheeler 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.
Wheeler County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wheeler County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wheeler County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wheeler County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wheeler County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wheeler 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.