Best PlacesFalls County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Falls County, 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.
Falls County ranks 2,201st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Falls County
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.
Falls County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Falls County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 143 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 81% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of counties
Where Falls County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 10% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Falls County
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Falls County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,290, 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 Falls County's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 Falls County
Falls County'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 Falls County.
Who works in Falls County, and how
Work in Falls County centers on retail trade and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Falls County
Falls County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 70% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Falls County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Falls County growing, and who is moving in?
Falls County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Killeen, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Falls County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Falls County, month by month
Falls County sees roughly 143 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March, April, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 50° | 38° |
| April | 78° | 69° | 57° |
| July | 96° | 88° | 75° |
| October | 82° | 71° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Falls County
The nearest airport, Waco Regional, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Austin-Bergstrom International, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around Falls County
Schools across Falls County average a D+, better than 16% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Westphalia ElA− · 62% proficient
- Foster ElC+ · 37% proficient
- Mart ElC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lorena MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Robinson IntB+ · 51% proficient
- Raymond Mays MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Lorena HighA · 73% proficient
- Troy H SB+ · 58% proficient
- Bremond H SB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Falls County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Falls County 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 Falls County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Falls County
Is Falls County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Falls County ranks 2,201st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low taxes, and the weather, and lowest on internet speeds and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Falls County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $129,460. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $63,290 median income, cost of living beats 47% of counties.
Is Falls County safe?
Falls County is safer than 16% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $585 per resident a year.
Compare Falls County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Falls County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Falls County 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.
Falls County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Falls County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Falls County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Falls County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Falls County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Falls County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.