Best PlacesWilliam Penn, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around William Penn, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
William Penn ranks 10,572nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in William Penn
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.
William Penn's strengths and weaknesses
Where William Penn ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 149 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 85% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 85% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of towns
Where William Penn ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 20% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in William Penn
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median William Penn home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $96,792, 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 William Penn's effective rate of 0.81%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in William Penn
William Penn runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for William Penn.
Who works in William Penn, and how
Work in William Penn centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in William Penn
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across William Penn.
What the weather is like in William Penn, month by month
William Penn sees roughly 149 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 52° | 44° |
| April | 81° | 70° | 60° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 84° | 72° | 62° |
Flying in and out of William Penn
The nearest airport, Easterwood Field, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 60 miles away.
The best schools in and around William Penn
Schools across William Penn average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Krause ElC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brenham J HB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Brenham H SB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every William Penn school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
William Penn 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 William Penn against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in William Penn
Is William Penn a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, William Penn ranks 10,572nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, the weather, and what local pay buys, and lowest on summer heat and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is William Penn expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $301,315. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $96,792 median income, cost of living beats 85% of towns.
Is William Penn safe?
William Penn is safer than 23% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $484 per resident a year.
Compare William Penn with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to William Penn. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in William Penn 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.
William Penn detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for William Penn: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in William Penn: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of William Penn: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in William Penn: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
William Penn 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.
- 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.