Best PlacesWillacy County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Willacy 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.
Willacy County ranks 2,844th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Willacy 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.
Willacy County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Willacy County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 193 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of counties
Where Willacy County ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Willacy County
A household needs to earn about $20,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Willacy County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,391, 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 Willacy County's effective rate of 1.46%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Willacy County
Willacy County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Willacy County.
Who works in Willacy County, and how
Work in Willacy County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Willacy County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Willacy County.
Is Willacy County growing, and who is moving in?
Willacy County has lost about 9% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Brownsville, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Willacy County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Willacy County, month by month
Willacy County sees roughly 193 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 73, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 73° | 60° | 51° |
| April | 87° | 75° | 66° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 88° | 76° | 66° |
Flying in and out of Willacy County
The nearest airport, Valley International, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 217 miles away.
The best schools in and around Willacy County
Schools across Willacy County average a C−, better than 21% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- San Perlita ElA− · 58% proficient
- Palmer-laakso ElC+ · 37% proficient
- Pittman ElC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Los Cuates MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
- Myra Green MiddleC− · 31% proficient
- Lyford MiddleC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Los Fresnos H SB · 50% proficient
- Lyford H SC · 32% proficient
- Raymondville H SC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Willacy County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Willacy 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 Willacy County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Willacy County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Willacy County
Is Willacy County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Willacy County ranks 2,844th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, cell coverage, and low taxes, and lowest on thin health care access and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Willacy County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $70,490. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $55,391 median income, cost of living beats 15% of counties.
Is Willacy County safe?
Willacy County is safer than 30% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $487 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Willacy County?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 73 with lows near 51. That works out to about 193 pleasant days a year, more than 99% of counties.
Is Willacy County good for families?
Schools beat 21% of counties, crime safety beats 30%, and childcare runs $664 a month.
Compare Willacy County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Willacy County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Willacy 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.
Willacy County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Willacy County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Willacy County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Willacy County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Willacy County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Willacy 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.