Best PlacesForest Glade, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Forest Glade, 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.
Forest Glade ranks 33,675th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Forest Glade
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.
Forest Glade's strengths and weaknesses
Where Forest Glade ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 81% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
- Cheap childcare$619 a month, better than 77% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 74% of towns
Where Forest Glade ranks low
- Short commute43.0 minutes each way, better than only 3% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 17% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Forest Glade
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Forest Glade home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,258, 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 Forest Glade's effective rate of 0.91%, 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 Forest Glade
Forest Glade runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Forest Glade.
Who works in Forest Glade, and how
Work in Forest Glade centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Forest Glade
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Forest Glade.
What the weather is like in Forest Glade, month by month
Forest Glade sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 40° |
| April | 78° | 66° | 57° |
| July | 96° | 84° | 74° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Forest Glade
The nearest airport, Waco Regional, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Forest Glade
Schools across Forest Glade average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- H O Whitehurst ElC · 33% proficient
- R Q Sims IntD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mexia J HC · 35% proficient
- Groesbeck MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Groesbeck H SC+ · 35% proficient
- Mexia H SC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Forest Glade school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Forest Glade 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 Forest Glade against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Forest Glade
Is Forest Glade a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Forest Glade ranks 33,675th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, a strong job market, and state finances, and lowest on long commutes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Forest Glade expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,851. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $65,258 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Forest Glade safe?
Forest Glade is safer than 45% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $371 per resident a year.
Compare Forest Glade with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Forest Glade. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Forest Glade 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.
Forest Glade detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Forest Glade: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Forest Glade: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Forest Glade: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Forest Glade: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Forest Glade 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.