Best PlacesBen Franklin, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ben Franklin, 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.
Ben Franklin ranks 17,467th 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 Ben Franklin
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.
Ben Franklin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ben Franklin ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap childcare$558 a month, better than 86% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 76% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 73% of towns
Where Ben Franklin ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 21% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 23% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ben Franklin
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ben Franklin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,951, 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 Ben Franklin's effective rate of 1.00%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ben Franklin
Ben Franklin'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 Ben Franklin.
Who works in Ben Franklin, and how
Work in Ben Franklin centers on health care & social and other services. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ben Franklin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ben Franklin.
What the weather is like in Ben Franklin, month by month
Ben Franklin sees roughly 98 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 53° |
| July | 95° | 83° | 73° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Ben Franklin
Dallas Love Field sits about 77 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 Ben Franklin
Schools across Ben Franklin average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Honey Grove ElB+ · 55% proficient
- Chisum ElB+ · 55% proficient
- Cooper ElD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chisum MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Honey Grove MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Cooper J HC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Chisum H SB+ · 57% proficient
- Cooper H SB · 50% proficient
- Honey Grove H SB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ben Franklin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ben Franklin 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 Ben Franklin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ben Franklin
Is Ben Franklin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ben Franklin ranks 17,467th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, affordable childcare, and state finances, and lowest on summer heat and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ben Franklin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $190,599. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $85,951 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Ben Franklin safe?
Yes, Ben Franklin is safer than 76% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
Compare Ben Franklin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ben Franklin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ben Franklin 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.
Ben Franklin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ben Franklin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ben Franklin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ben Franklin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ben Franklin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ben Franklin 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.