Best PlacesCarbon, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Carbon, 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.
Carbon ranks 40,407th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Carbon
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.
Carbon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carbon ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 155 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- QuietBetter than 86% of towns
- Cheap childcare$571 a month, better than 82% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
Where Carbon ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Carbon
A household needs to earn about $24,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carbon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,714, 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 Carbon's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Carbon
Carbon runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Carbon.
Who works in Carbon, and how
Work in Carbon centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Carbon
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Carbon.
What the weather is like in Carbon, month by month
Carbon sees roughly 155 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 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° | 47° | 37° |
| April | 80° | 66° | 55° |
| July | 99° | 85° | 73° |
| October | 82° | 68° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Carbon
The nearest airport, Abilene Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 113 miles away.
The best schools in and around Carbon
Schools across Carbon average a C+, better than 44% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Siebert ElB− · 41% proficient
- Maxfield ElC− · 30% proficient
- Rising Star ElD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Eastland MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Gorman MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Eastland H SB · 47% proficient
- Rising Star H SC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carbon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carbon 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 Carbon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Carbon
Is Carbon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carbon ranks 40,407th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, low taxes, 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 Carbon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $90,254. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $53,714 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is Carbon safe?
Carbon is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $491 per resident a year.
Compare Carbon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carbon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carbon 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.
Carbon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carbon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carbon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carbon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carbon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carbon 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.