Best PlacesBelton, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Belton, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Belton ranks 857th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and transit ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Belton
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.
Belton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Belton ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 96% of cities
- Cheap childcare$614 a month, better than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 83% of cities
Where Belton ranks low
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 15% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 15% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 22% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 26% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Belton
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Belton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $85,963; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Belton's effective rate of 1.29%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Belton
Belton runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Belton.
Who works in Belton, and how
Work in Belton centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Belton
Belton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of cities and more parkland per resident than 92% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Belton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Belton, month by month
Belton sees roughly 148 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 61, 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 | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| April | 79° | 66° | 56° |
| July | 97° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 83° | 69° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Belton
The nearest airport, Robert Gray AAF, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Austin-Bergstrom International, about 62 miles away.
The best schools in and around Belton
Schools across Belton average a B−, better than 55% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Sparta ElA− · 55% proficient
- Lakewood ElB+ · 55% proficient
- Joe M Pirtle ElB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Holland MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Lake Belton MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Salado MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Lake Belton H SA− · 62% proficient
- Troy H SB+ · 58% proficient
- Salado H SB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Belton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Belton 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 Belton against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Belton suits
Common questions about living in Belton
Is Belton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Belton ranks 857th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a strong job market, affordable childcare, and low taxes, and lowest on transit and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Belton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $310,037. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $85,963 median income, cost of living beats 60% of cities.
Is Belton safe?
Yes, Belton is safer than 72% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $321 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Belton?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 37. That works out to about 148 pleasant days a year, more than 81% of cities.
Is Belton good for families?
Schools beat 55% of cities, crime safety beats 72%, and childcare runs $614 a month.
Compare Belton with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Belton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Belton 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.
Belton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Belton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Belton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Belton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Belton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Belton 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.