Best PlacesHarleton, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Harleton, 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.
Harleton ranks 19,968th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Harleton
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.
Harleton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Harleton ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- QuietBetter than 87% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap childcare$574 a month, better than 81% of towns
Where Harleton ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 23% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 27% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Harleton
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harleton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,547, 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 Harleton's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 Harleton
Harleton runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Harleton.
Who works in Harleton, and how
Work in Harleton centers on manufacturing and other services. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Harleton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Harleton.
What the weather is like in Harleton, month by month
Harleton sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 54° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Harleton
The nearest airport, East Texas Regional, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 134 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harleton
Schools across Harleton average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Harleton ElB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Harleton J HA− · 55% proficient
- Jefferson J HC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Harleton H SA− · 60% proficient
- Jefferson H SC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harleton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harleton 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 Harleton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Harleton
Is Harleton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harleton ranks 19,968th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low taxes, and quiet, and lowest on air quality and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Harleton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $179,906. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $71,547 median income, cost of living beats 46% of towns.
Is Harleton safe?
Harleton is safer than 51% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $355 per resident a year.
Compare Harleton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harleton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harleton 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.
Harleton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harleton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harleton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harleton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harleton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harleton 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.