Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is Texas a good place?
The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in Texas.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Lone Star State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.
The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of Texas, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 254 counties in the state.
Collin County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in Texas. And you should avoid Starr County if you can — at least according to the data.
$121,600 median income · 4.2% unemployment
$111,340 median income · 3.9% unemployment
$127,981 median income · 4.3% unemployment
$101,889 median income · 3.9% unemployment
$111,498 median income · 4.0% unemployment
$114,962 median income · 4.7% unemployment
$75,854 median income · 2.3% unemployment
$79,825 median income · 3.2% unemployment
$72,750 median income · 1.2% unemployment
$104,443 median income · 4.0% unemployment
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Texas’s statewide median.
Texas statewide median: $78,476
Texas statewide median: $300,957
Texas statewide median: 5.3%
On the map
Where Texas’s best counties are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine which Texas county is the best?
To give you the best county in Texas, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.
With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.
We paid particular attention to:
- Violent Crime Rates
- Property Crime Rates
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Unemployment Rates
- Adult Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty Rates
We then ranked each county in Texas across each of the criteria from one to 254, with one being the best.
Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In Texas.”
The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Lone Star State.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the best counties to live in Texas.
Read on to see why Collin County is the best county, while Starr County is probably in contention for being the worst county in Texas.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Best Counties In Texas
Click any column to sort. Search by county name.
| Rank | County | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Collin County | 1,163,337 | $121,600 | $485,017 |
| 2 | Williamson County | 672,688 | $111,340 | $404,054 |
| 3 | Rockwall County | 123,617 | $127,981 | $417,189 |
| 4 | Comal County | 183,826 | $101,889 | $433,479 |
| 5 | Denton County | 979,561 | $111,498 | $444,319 |
| 6 | Kendall County | 48,567 | $114,962 | $589,117 |
| 7 | Fayette County | 25,042 | $75,854 | $460,761 |
| 8 | Somervell County | 9,691 | $79,825 | $406,218 |
| 9 | Armstrong County | 1,822 | $72,750 | $238,808 |
| 10 | Parker County | 165,168 | $104,443 | $441,671 |
| 11 | Randall County | 146,070 | $83,864 | $257,798 |
| 11 | Fort Bend County | 893,767 | $114,041 | $380,880 |
| 13 | Wilson County | 52,781 | $94,565 | $398,630 |
| 14 | Travis County | 1,330,015 | $99,611 | $477,389 |
| 15 | Gillespie County | 27,524 | $76,162 | $509,966 |
| 16 | Carson County | 5,801 | $85,231 | $161,591 |
| 17 | Mills County | 4,511 | $67,620 | $390,767 |
| 18 | Guadalupe County | 183,642 | $92,375 | $298,730 |
| 19 | Hays County | 268,638 | $89,097 | $370,397 |
| 20 | Lampasas County | 22,715 | $81,736 | $308,359 |
| 21 | Ellis County | 213,160 | $99,595 | $372,221 |
| 22 | Roberts County | 832 | $67,868 | $171,264 |
| 23 | Brazoria County | 391,255 | $97,993 | $327,143 |
| 24 | Hood County | 65,894 | $88,160 | $373,156 |
| 25 | Archer County | 8,867 | $72,159 | $238,967 |
| 26 | Medina County | 53,547 | $78,074 | $320,671 |
| 27 | Washington County | 36,647 | $77,825 | $368,822 |
| 28 | Blanco County | 12,446 | $92,425 | $576,360 |
| 29 | Burnet County | 52,652 | $78,732 | $431,655 |
| 30 | Colorado County | 21,006 | $66,377 | $297,695 |
| 30 | Montgomery County | 684,432 | $97,701 | $344,634 |
| 32 | Irion County | 1,409 | $70,357 | $264,610 |
| 33 | Clay County | 10,495 | $80,114 | $205,855 |
| 34 | Borden County | 713 | $65,625 | $115,484 |
| 35 | Mason County | 3,955 | $74,180 | $359,532 |
| 36 | Johnson County | 195,597 | $84,859 | $340,663 |
| 37 | Lavaca County | 20,552 | $63,240 | $289,236 |
| 38 | Midland County | 174,801 | $92,874 | $329,629 |
| 39 | Grayson County | 143,337 | $72,182 | $289,274 |
| 40 | Aransas County | 24,876 | $69,466 | $299,041 |
| 41 | Glasscock County | 1,068 | $101,250 | $285,039 |
| 41 | Galveston County | 358,990 | $86,105 | $317,130 |
| 43 | Wise County | 75,005 | $93,421 | $371,552 |
| 44 | Franklin County | 10,632 | $72,360 | $312,970 |
| 45 | Llano County | 22,424 | $67,530 | $460,218 |
| 46 | Kerr County | 53,489 | $69,395 | $371,232 |
| 47 | Kaufman County | 172,604 | $89,485 | $300,249 |
| 48 | Kimble County | 4,389 | $69,455 | $377,272 |
| 49 | Callahan County | 14,241 | $72,436 | $212,532 |
| 50 | Austin County | 31,170 | $75,789 | $414,959 |
| 51 | Tarrant County | 2,167,390 | $84,207 | $323,204 |
| 52 | Rains County | 12,775 | $65,413 | $290,129 |
| 53 | Taylor County | 145,863 | $67,139 | $214,276 |
| 54 | Bandera County | 22,021 | $75,813 | $334,174 |
| 55 | Delta County | 5,438 | $66,575 | $199,264 |
| 56 | Coryell County | 84,748 | $71,301 | $224,936 |
| 57 | Hartley County | 5,215 | $75,841 | $249,826 |
| 58 | Chambers County | 51,498 | $109,804 | $349,392 |
| 59 | Freestone County | 20,049 | $59,960 | $234,731 |
| 60 | Smith County | 241,740 | $74,192 | $269,252 |
| 61 | Loving County | 33 | $51,250 | $0 |
| 62 | Tom Green County | 119,577 | $68,370 | $237,297 |
| 63 | Fannin County | 37,326 | $72,295 | $282,821 |
| 64 | Cooke County | 43,046 | $73,932 | $320,709 |
| 65 | Burleson County | 18,857 | $70,000 | $267,412 |
| 66 | Sutton County | 3,277 | $78,906 | $147,545 |
| 67 | Bosque County | 18,687 | $68,914 | $236,320 |
| 68 | Van Zandt County | 62,649 | $69,475 | $279,545 |
| 69 | Sabine County | 10,023 | $66,585 | $197,685 |
| 70 | Hardin County | 57,642 | $75,808 | $229,072 |
| 71 | Brewster County | 9,503 | $56,212 | $235,106 |
| 72 | Shackelford County | 3,175 | $73,047 | $155,477 |
| 73 | Calhoun County | 19,868 | $79,959 | $203,519 |
| 74 | Terrell County | 835 | $44,886 | $119,101 |
| 75 | Milam County | 25,567 | $66,141 | $272,763 |
| 76 | Martin County | 5,218 | $93,734 | $257,638 |
| 77 | Robertson County | 17,167 | $72,236 | $270,234 |
| 78 | Bastrop County | 106,582 | $86,226 | $355,438 |
| 79 | Crockett County | 2,822 | $81,022 | $114,050 |
| 80 | Madison County | 13,648 | $74,596 | $282,941 |
| 81 | McLennan County | 266,067 | $66,643 | $259,956 |
| 82 | Lynn County | 5,752 | $73,679 | $204,931 |
| 83 | Orange County | 85,307 | $72,104 | $185,863 |
| 84 | Panola County | 22,726 | $64,894 | $202,884 |
| 85 | Lee County | 17,971 | $76,371 | $354,649 |
| 86 | Bell County | 386,897 | $68,865 | $251,978 |
| 87 | Hopkins County | 37,784 | $70,888 | $260,712 |
| 88 | Hunt County | 108,972 | $71,938 | $275,141 |
| 89 | Real County | 2,802 | $39,605 | $287,207 |
| 90 | Wharton County | 41,794 | $66,924 | $243,235 |
| 91 | Goliad County | 7,141 | $59,359 | $277,234 |
| 92 | Upshur County | 42,567 | $66,208 | $233,991 |
| 93 | Jeff Davis County | 1,865 | $59,286 | $203,837 |
| 94 | Fisher County | 3,655 | $65,533 | $105,433 |
| 95 | Kent County | 734 | $72,889 | $129,588 |
| 96 | Rusk County | 52,842 | $68,658 | $208,626 |
| 97 | Bowie County | 92,115 | $59,803 | $190,281 |
| 98 | Bexar County | 2,067,341 | $72,341 | $256,512 |
| 99 | Erath County | 43,794 | $65,115 | $341,265 |
| 100 | Hutchinson County | 20,184 | $67,228 | $119,866 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS + FBI crime data via Saturday Night Science. All 254 Texas counties.
Summary
Summary: The Best Counties In Texas To Call Home For 2026
Living in Texas can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?
The best counties in Texas are Collin County, Williamson County, Rockwall County, Comal County, Denton County, Kendall County, Fayette County, Somervell County, Armstrong County, and Parker County.
But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.
You are welcome.
