Best PlacesWichita County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wichita 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.
Wichita County ranks 1,155th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on short commutes and cell coverage. The weaker spots are air quality, civic engagement, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Wichita 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 Wichita County
The parts of Wichita 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.
Wichita Falls
More adults hold degrees and fewer homes sit empty.
Iowa Park & Electra
It is quieter and more residents vote.
Burkburnett
More households have young kids and local pay stretches further.
Sheppard AFB
Health outcomes score higher, though homes cost more.
Wichita County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Wichita County's strengths and weaknesses
Wichita County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Short commutes, cell coverage, and low taxes carry most of that.
The one real hole is air quality, near the bottom of the country. Civic engagement and property taxes also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Wichita County ranks high
- Short commute15.0 minutes each way, better than 96% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 95% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 81% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 127 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of counties
Where Wichita County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 7% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wichita County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wichita County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,674, 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 Wichita County's effective rate of 1.51%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wichita County
Wichita County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wichita County.
Who works in Wichita County, and how
Work in Wichita County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Wichita County
Wichita County has more parkland per resident than 89% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Wichita County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Wichita County growing, and who is moving in?
Wichita County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Dallas, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wichita County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wichita County, month by month
Wichita County sees roughly 127 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 42° | 33° |
| April | 78° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 98° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Wichita County
The nearest airport, Sheppard AFB/Wichita Falls Municipal, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wichita County
Schools across Wichita County average a C+, better than 52% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sheppard Afb ElB+ · 53% proficient
- Holliday ElB+ · 53% proficient
- Bradford ElB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Holliday MiddleA · 60% proficient
- W F George MiddleB · 46% proficient
- Mcniel MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Iowa Park H SA · 70% proficient
- Holliday H SA · 68% proficient
- Rider H SB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wichita County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wichita 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 Wichita County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Wichita County suits
Families
Schools land around the 52nd percentile and crime safety beats 81%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Wichita County
Is Wichita County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wichita County ranks 1,155th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, cell coverage, and low taxes, and lowest on air quality and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wichita County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,625. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $69,674 median income, cost of living beats 60% of counties.
Is Wichita County safe?
Yes, Wichita County is safer than 81% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $343 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wichita County?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 33. That works out to about 127 pleasant days a year, more than 80% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Wichita County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Wichita Falls, Iowa Park & Electra, and Burkburnett. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Wichita County good for families?
Schools beat 52% of counties, crime safety beats 81%, and childcare runs $596 a month.
Is Wichita County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 60% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 70% of counties. About 7% of workers already work from home.
Compare Wichita County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wichita County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wichita 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.
Wichita County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wichita County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wichita County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wichita County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wichita County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wichita 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.