Best PlacesBaxter, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Baxter, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Baxter ranks 9,502nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Baxter
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.
Baxter's strengths and weaknesses
Where Baxter ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 88% of towns
- QuietBetter than 84% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 83% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 82% of towns
Where Baxter ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 23% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Baxter
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Baxter home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $93,144, 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 Baxter's effective rate of 1.13%, 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 Baxter
Baxter's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Baxter.
Who works in Baxter, and how
Work in Baxter centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Baxter
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Baxter.
What the weather is like in Baxter, month by month
Baxter sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 58, 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 | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 65° | 55° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Baxter
The nearest airport, Tyler Pounds Regional, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 76 miles away.
The best schools in and around Baxter
Schools across Baxter average a B, better than 73% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cayuga ElA− · 58% proficient
- Cross Roads ElC+ · 37% proficient
- South Athens ElC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cross Roads J HA+ · 72% proficient
- Cayuga MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Athens MiddleC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Cayuga H SA− · 63% proficient
- Cross Roads H SA− · 63% proficient
- Athens H SC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Baxter school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Baxter 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 Baxter against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Baxter
Is Baxter a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Baxter ranks 9,502nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, a strong job market, and quiet, 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 Baxter expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $198,755. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $93,144 median income, cost of living beats 82% of towns.
Is Baxter safe?
Baxter is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $337 per resident a year.
Compare Baxter with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Baxter. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Baxter 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.
Baxter detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Baxter: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Baxter: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Baxter: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Baxter: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Baxter 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.