Best PlacesHatchel, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hatchel, 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.
Hatchel ranks 29,461st of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Hatchel
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.
Hatchel's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hatchel ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 161 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap childcare$571 a month, better than 82% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
Where Hatchel ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hatchel
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hatchel home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,211, 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 Hatchel's effective rate of 1.42%, 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 Hatchel
Hatchel runs older 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 Hatchel.
Who works in Hatchel, and how
Work in Hatchel centers on construction and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Hatchel
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hatchel.
What the weather is like in Hatchel, month by month
Hatchel sees roughly 161 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 43° | 30° |
| April | 82° | 64° | 51° |
| July | 98° | 83° | 70° |
| October | 81° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Hatchel
The nearest airport, Abilene Regional, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Austin-Bergstrom International, about 177 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hatchel
Schools across Hatchel average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ballinger ElC · 35% proficient
- Winters ElC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ballinger J HC+ · 37% proficient
- Winters J HD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Ballinger H SB · 47% proficient
- Winters H SD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hatchel school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hatchel 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 Hatchel against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hatchel
Is Hatchel a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hatchel ranks 29,461st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, the weather, and low taxes, and lowest on internet speeds and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hatchel expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $122,558. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $77,211 median income, cost of living beats 79% of towns.
Is Hatchel safe?
Hatchel is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $591 per resident a year.
Compare Hatchel with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hatchel. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hatchel 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.
Hatchel detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hatchel: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hatchel: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hatchel: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hatchel: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hatchel 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.