Best PlacesHarker Heights, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Harker Heights, 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.
Harker Heights ranks 710th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and transit ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Harker Heights
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.
Harker Heights' strengths and weaknesses
Where Harker Heights ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of cities
- Cheap childcare$614 a month, better than 96% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 94% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 179 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of cities
Where Harker Heights ranks low
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 17% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 20% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 26% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 26% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Harker Heights
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harker Heights home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,966, 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 Harker Heights' effective rate of 1.15%, 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 Harker Heights
Harker Heights runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Harker Heights.
Who works in Harker Heights, and how
Work in Harker Heights centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Harker Heights
Harker Heights has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of cities and more parkland per resident than 87% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Harker Heights and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Harker Heights, month by month
Harker Heights sees roughly 179 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 80° | 68° | 57° |
| July | 97° | 85° | 75° |
| October | 83° | 70° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Harker Heights
The nearest airport, Robert Gray AAF, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Austin-Bergstrom International, about 60 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harker Heights
Schools across Harker Heights average a B−, better than 45% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Skipcha ElB− · 42% proficient
- Nolanville ElB− · 42% proficient
- Florence ElC+ · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nolan MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- Salado MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Union Grove MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Salado H SB+ · 57% proficient
- Harker Heights H SB · 49% proficient
- C E Ellison H SB− · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harker Heights school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harker Heights 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 Harker Heights against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Harker Heights suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Harker Heights
Is Harker Heights a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harker Heights ranks 710th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cell coverage, affordable childcare, and a strong job market, 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 Harker Heights expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $297,331. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $91,966 median income, cost of living beats 69% of cities.
Is Harker Heights safe?
Harker Heights is safer than 43% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $425 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Harker Heights?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 62 with lows near 39. That works out to about 179 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of cities.
Is Harker Heights good for families?
Schools beat 45% of cities, crime safety beats 43%, and childcare runs $614 a month.
Compare Harker Heights with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harker Heights. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harker Heights 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.
Harker Heights detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harker Heights: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harker Heights: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harker Heights: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harker Heights: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harker Heights 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.