Best PlacesBalch Springs, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Balch Springs, 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.
Balch Springs ranks 1,962nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Civic engagement pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Balch Springs
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.
Balch Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Balch Springs ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 141 pleasant days a year, better than 79% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 73% of cities
- Cheap childcare$883 a month, better than 70% of cities
Where Balch Springs ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Balch Springs
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Balch Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,631, 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 Balch Springs' effective rate of 1.34%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Balch Springs
Balch Springs 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 Balch Springs.
Who works in Balch Springs, and how
Work in Balch Springs centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Balch Springs
Balch Springs has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Balch Springs and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Balch Springs, month by month
Balch Springs sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 57, 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 | 57° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 65° | 55° |
| July | 95° | 84° | 74° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Balch Springs
Dallas Love Field sits about 16 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 8.2 million passengers in 2025, with 91 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Balch Springs
Schools across Balch Springs average a C, better than 27% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Nancy Moseley ElC+ · 39% proficient
- Gilbert Cuellar Sr ElC+ · 36% proficient
- Mcwhorter ElC+ · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Berry MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Agnew MiddleC+ · 39% proficient
- Wilkinson MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate AcademyA− · 60% proficient
- Horn H SB− · 41% proficient
- West Mesquite H SC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Balch Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Balch Springs 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 Balch Springs against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Balch Springs suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Balch Springs
Is Balch Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Balch Springs ranks 1,962nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low taxes, state finances, and the weather, and lowest on civic engagement and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Balch Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $215,470. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $72,631 median income, cost of living beats 24% of cities.
Is Balch Springs safe?
Balch Springs is safer than 4% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $669 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Balch Springs?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 37. That works out to about 141 pleasant days a year, more than 79% of cities.
Is Balch Springs good for families?
Schools beat 27% of cities, crime safety beats 4%, and childcare runs $883 a month.
Compare Balch Springs with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Balch Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Balch Springs 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.
Balch Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Balch Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Balch Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Balch Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Balch Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Balch Springs 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.