Best PlacesWinchester, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Winchester, 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.
Winchester ranks 18,077th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Winchester
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.
Winchester's strengths and weaknesses
Where Winchester ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 166 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 83% of towns
Where Winchester ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Short commute35.6 minutes each way, better than only 12% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 13% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Winchester
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Winchester home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,304, 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 Winchester's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Winchester
Winchester 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 Winchester.
Who works in Winchester, and how
Work in Winchester centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Winchester
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Winchester.
What the weather is like in Winchester, month by month
Winchester sees roughly 166 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 81° | 70° | 61° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 84° | 72° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Winchester
Austin-Bergstrom International sits about 42 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 10.7 million passengers in 2025, with 127 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Winchester
Schools across Winchester average a B, better than 67% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Smithville ElB− · 42% proficient
- Giddings IntC+ · 37% proficient
- La Grange ElC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- La Grange MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Smithville J HB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Giddings H SA · 68% proficient
- La Grange H SB+ · 53% proficient
- Smithville H SB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Winchester school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Winchester 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 Winchester against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Winchester
Is Winchester a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Winchester ranks 18,077th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, the weather, and low taxes, and lowest on summer heat and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Winchester expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $237,698. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $84,304 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Winchester safe?
Winchester is safer than 28% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $455 per resident a year.
Compare Winchester with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Winchester. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Winchester 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.
Winchester detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Winchester: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Winchester: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Winchester: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Winchester: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Winchester 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.