Best PlacesZapata, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Zapata, 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.
Zapata ranks 42,327th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Zapata
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.
Zapata's strengths and weaknesses
Where Zapata ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 194 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
Where Zapata ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Zapata
A household needs to earn about $27,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Zapata home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,635, 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 Zapata'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 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 Zapata
Zapata 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 Zapata.
Who works in Zapata, and how
Work in Zapata centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Zapata
Zapata has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Zapata and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Zapata, month by month
Zapata sees roughly 194 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 102 degrees. January highs sit near 73, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 73° | 58° | 46° |
| April | 92° | 77° | 66° |
| July | 102° | 88° | 77° |
| October | 90° | 77° | 66° |
Flying in and out of Zapata
The nearest airport, Laredo International, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 188 miles away.
The best schools in and around Zapata
Schools across Zapata average a D, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Zapata South ElD+ · 24% proficient
- Zapata North ElD+ · 22% proficient
- Fidel And Andrea R Villarreal ElD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Zapata MiddleD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Zapata H SD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Zapata school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Zapata 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 Zapata against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Zapata
Is Zapata a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Zapata ranks 42,327th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, walkability, and low taxes, and lowest on summer heat and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Zapata expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $105,441. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $49,635 median income, cost of living beats 12% of towns.
Is Zapata safe?
Zapata is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $596 per resident a year.
Compare Zapata with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Zapata. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Zapata 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.
Zapata detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Zapata: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Zapata: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Zapata: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Zapata: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Zapata 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.