Best PlacesWood County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wood 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.
Wood County ranks 1,613th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Wood 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 Wood County
The parts of Wood 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.
Quitman
More adults hold degrees, prices have run up less, and it is quieter.
Winnsboro
Heat risk is lower, though fewer residents vote.
Mineola
Fewer homes sit empty and more households have young kids.
Yantis
Tree cover is thinner and local pay stretches less far.
Hawkins
Scores close to Yantis, except that schools score higher here.
Scores across Wood County run from about the 11th to the 64th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Wood County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wood County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- QuietBetter than 81% of counties
- TransitBetter than 77% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of counties
Where Wood County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
- Short commute29.7 minutes each way, better than only 17% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 26% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 28% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wood County
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wood County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,671, 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 Wood County's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wood County
Wood County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wood County.
Who works in Wood County, and how
Work in Wood County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Wood County
Wood County has less parkland per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Wood County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Wood County growing, and who is moving in?
Wood County has grown about 14% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Dallas, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wood County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wood County, month by month
Wood County sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 65° | 55° |
| July | 93° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Wood County
The nearest airport, Tyler Pounds Regional, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wood County
Schools across Wood County average a B, better than 70% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Harmony ElB · 48% proficient
- Hawkins ElB · 47% proficient
- Harmony IntB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mineola MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Pittsburg IntA− · 58% proficient
- Sulphur Springs MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Winnsboro H SA− · 62% proficient
- Pittsburg H SB+ · 57% proficient
- Mineola H SB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wood County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wood 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 Wood County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Wood County suits
Common questions about living in Wood County
Is Wood County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wood County ranks 1,613th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, low taxes, and quiet, and lowest on summer heat and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wood County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $215,750. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $63,671 median income, cost of living beats 36% of counties.
Is Wood County safe?
Wood County is safer than 54% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $390 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wood County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 37. That works out to about 90 pleasant days a year, more than 51% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Wood County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Quitman, Winnsboro, and Mineola. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Wood County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wood County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wood 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.
Wood County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wood County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wood County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wood County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wood County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wood 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.