Commuter guide
Renting in New Braunfels, working in San Antonio
If the job is down there and the lease is up here, the only question that matters is how many minutes each building costs you. Every community below has been measured to four San Antonio destinations.
- 60
- Communities measured
- 41 min
- Median to downtown
- 32 min
- Shortest run south
- $1,075
- Cheapest in the quickest band
Checked against each community's own website. Latest check September 10, 2026.
Four destinations
Where the drive actually goes
Nobody commutes to a city. They commute to a building in it, and the four below cover most of why people make this drive. The last column is the one to read: it is how much the choice of apartment moves the drive, inside a town you can cross in fifteen minutes.
| Destination | Median drive | From the closest | From the furthest | What the building choice is worth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown San Antonio | 41 min | 32 min | 53 min | 21 min spread |
| South Texas Medical Center | 42 min | 33 min | 51 min | 18 min spread |
| San Antonio airport | 35 min | 26 min | 43 min | 17 min spread |
| JBSA-Randolph | 31 min | 22 min | 45 min | 23 min spread |
Measured from every community we have pinned for a Tuesday 8:30 AM Central departure. Banked with the rest of the data and re-measured when the roster changes.
The list
Shortest run to downtown first
| Community | To downtown SA | Starting rent | Current special | Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverbend | 35 min | $1,285 | none today | I-35 South Corridor |
| The Sage | 35 min | $1,075 | none today | I-35 South Corridor |
| Braunfels Place | 38 min | $846 | none today | I-35 South Corridor |
| Gruene Pointe | 38 min | $905 | none today | Creekside & Freiheit Village |
| RiverStone | 38 min | $1,009 | 4.33 weeks free | I-35 South Corridor |
| Tacara Westpointe Village | 38 min | $990 | 6.5 weeks free | Veramendi & the West Side |
| Alexan Gruene Crossing | 39 min | $1,111 | 10 weeks free | Loop 337 & the FM 306 Corridor |
| Cypress Edge | 39 min | $799 | none today | Creekside & Freiheit Village |
| Laurel Heights | 39 min | $919 | 4.33 weeks free | Downtown, Main Plaza & Landa Park |
| Mission Hill | 39 min | $985 | 8.67 weeks free | Veramendi & the West Side |
| Westshore Colony | 39 min | $1,155 | 6 weeks free | I-35 South Corridor |
| Braunwood at Town Creek | 40 min | $2,097 | 8.67 weeks free | Downtown, Main Plaza & Landa Park |
| New Braunfels Heights | 40 min | $1,144 | 8.67 weeks free | Loop 337 & the FM 306 Corridor |
| Oak Creek | 40 min | $1,183 | 8.67 weeks free | Loop 337 & the FM 306 Corridor |
| Stone Haven | 40 min | $994 | 8.67 weeks free | I-35 South Corridor |
Proven rents only in this table. None today under special means nothing is advertised.
The quickest run south
See these on the mapLive from the same bank the map reads, shortest measured drive first.
The comparison we will not make
Why there is no San Antonio rent column here
The obvious thing to put on this page is a rent table with San Antonio on one side and New Braunfels on the other. We are not going to. We would be measuring one side and repeating a figure for the other, and a table like that reads as though both numbers came from the same place.
Where we do measure both sides, we publish the comparison and show the working: against Austin and against San Marcos. Both run off nightly banks we keep ourselves.
Questions renters actually ask
How long is the drive from New Braunfels to downtown San Antonio?+
Across every community we have pinned, the median measured drive is 41 min. The shortest is 32 min and the longest 53 min, which means the building you pick inside this one town moves the drive by 21 minutes each way.
Is rent cheaper here than in San Antonio?+
We measure New Braunfels nightly and publish what we find: a median starting rent of $1,050 across 48 priced communities. We do not run a San Antonio bank, so we will not put a number next to it and call it a comparison. Our published cross-market pages cover Austin and San Marcos, where we measure both sides ourselves.
Which part of town has the shortest drive south?+
The quickest measured drives cluster in I-35 South Corridor, Bulverde & Spring Branch, Creekside & Freiheit Village. That is a reading of where the interchange access is, not an opinion about the neighbourhoods.
Are the drive times rush hour or free-flowing?+
Measured for a Tuesday 8:30 AM Central departure and banked September 9, 2026. One reading rather than an average of many, so treat it as a way to compare communities against each other rather than a promise about next Tuesday.
Does a shorter drive cost more in rent?+
Not on our bank. The communities with the shortest measured runs south are spread across the price range rather than sitting at the top of it, which is the useful finding here: the drive is mostly a function of interchange access, and interchange access is not something landlords price.
What about the drive back at five?+
Worse than the morning on most of these runs, and we do not publish an evening figure, having not measured one. If the return trip is what decides your lease, drive it once at the hour you would actually be driving it before you sign.
Keep reading
Driving to JBSA-Randolph
The same clock, pointed at the base.
The I-35 corridor
Where the southbound run starts shortest.
Moving to New Braunfels
Rent, drives and areas in one place.
New Braunfels against Austin
Both markets measured nightly.
True cost calculator
Concession and fees worked into the rent.
The live map
Every community we track, on one screen.