Austin vs. San Antonio: Which Texas Metro Scores Higher?

Austin's top-scoring ZIP code narrowly outranks San Antonio's on NeighborScore's overall index, 54 to 52, but the two Texas metros are closer than that headline number suggests. Both cities' best ZIP codes share the same countywide crime baseline and post remarkably similar school scores, according to NCES assessment data — so the real differences between them come down to home value and neighborhood character, not safety or academics.

Austin's Best ZIP Codes

1. 78759, North Austin — school score 86/100, crime 25, value 27, overall 54
2. 78717, Northwest Austin — school score 85/100, crime 25, value 29, overall 53

Austin's top ZIP codes cluster in the northern part of the metro, an area known locally for its concentration of tech employers and the Round Rock and Leander school districts. Both 78759 and 78717 post school scores above 85 out of 100, among the strongest in this Texas comparison, but neither posts a value score above 30 — a reflection of Austin's well-documented run-up in home prices over the past decade.

San Antonio's Best ZIP Codes

1. 78258, Stone Oak area — school score 83/100, crime 25, value 32, overall 52
2. 78259, Stone Oak area — school score 82/100, crime 25, value 37, overall 52

San Antonio's top ZIP codes concentrate around the Stone Oak area on the city's north side, served by the North East Independent School District. 78258 and 78259 post school scores just a few points behind Austin's top ZIP codes, at 83 and 82 out of 100, but both post noticeably better value scores — 32 and 37, respectively — meaning comparable school quality currently comes at a lower relative cost in San Antonio than in Austin.

According to the FBI Crime Data Explorer, both Travis County and Bexar County currently fall into the same crime-score tier within NeighborScore's four-tier scoring cascade, since neither metro has agency-level FBI data mapped to individual ZIP codes yet. That absence of granular crime data is common outside the handful of pilot cities with ZIP-level incident reporting, and it means this comparison rests on schools and value rather than measurable safety differences.

Crime Scores Are Identical Across Both Metros

All four ZIP codes in this comparison share a crime score of 25 out of 100, the baseline tier that applies across Travis County and Bexar County alike in NeighborScore's current dataset. Neither metro has agency-level or ZIP-level FBI incident data mapped yet, so this comparison can't distinguish Austin from San Antonio on safety specifically — only on schools and value, where real differences do show up.

Which Metro Wins on Value?

San Antonio's 78259 posts the best value score in this four-ZIP comparison at 37 out of 100, ten points ahead of Austin's best ZIP code on that measure. That gap is consistent with Austin's reputation as the pricier of the two Texas metros overall, even though the gap in school quality between their top ZIP codes — at most four points — is narrow enough that it shouldn't be the deciding factor for most buyers choosing between them.

Beyond the Scores: Why Buyers Compare These Two Metros

Austin and San Antonio sit roughly 80 miles apart along the I-35 corridor, close enough that many households cross-shop both metros during a single relocation search. Austin has drawn national attention for its tech-sector job growth over the past decade, which has pushed home prices up faster than incomes in much of the metro — a dynamic reflected directly in the below-30 value scores for both 78759 and 78717 despite their strong school data. San Antonio, by contrast, has grown more gradually, and its Stone Oak-area ZIP codes have so far avoided the sharpest price increases seen in Austin's northern suburbs.

Neither city is inexpensive by national standards, but the gap between them is large enough to change the math for budget-conscious buyers who care more about maximizing value than shaving a few points off a school score. Households prioritizing a shorter commute to a major tech employer may still lean toward Austin despite the cost gap, while those optimizing purely for affordability and similarly strong schools have a clear case for San Antonio.

Bottom Line

Austin's ZIP 78759 edges out San Antonio's ZIP 78258 on NeighborScore's overall index, 54 to 52, driven mainly by a slightly higher school score rather than any safety advantage — both metros share an identical crime baseline. San Antonio's ZIP codes currently offer meaningfully better value scores, making the choice largely a tradeoff between marginally stronger schools in Austin and meaningfully better affordability in San Antonio. Full crime, school, and value data for each ZIP code is available on their NeighborScore profiles, and more city-to-city comparisons are posted on the NeighborScore blog.