Best PlacesHill County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hill County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hill County ranks 2,097th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Hill 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.
The best areas in Hill County
The parts of Hill County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Itasca
More households have young kids, fewer homes sit empty, and local pay stretches further.
Hillsboro
Heat risk is lower, though it is noisier.
Whitney
Incomes run lower and commutes are longer.
Scores across Hill County run from about the 6th to the 68th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Hill County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hill County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 96% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 143 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of counties
Where Hill County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Short commute32.0 minutes each way, better than only 9% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 20% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hill County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hill County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,266, 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 Hill County's effective rate of 1.04%, 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 Hill County
Hill 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 Hill County.
Who works in Hill County, and how
Work in Hill County centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hill County
Hill County has less parkland per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Hill County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hill County growing, and who is moving in?
Hill County has grown about 12% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Dallas, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hill County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hill County, month by month
Hill County sees roughly 143 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| April | 77° | 65° | 56° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 75° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Hill County
The nearest airport, Waco Regional, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 62 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hill County
Schools across Hill County average a C+, better than 54% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Grandview ElA− · 58% proficient
- West ElB+ · 53% proficient
- Axtell ElB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Grandview J HA · 62% proficient
- West MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Hillsboro J HB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Grandview H SA · 72% proficient
- West H SB+ · 52% proficient
- Rio Vista H SB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hill County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hill 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 Hill County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Hill County suits
Common questions about living in Hill County
Is Hill County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hill County ranks 2,097th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, low taxes, and the weather, and lowest on summer heat and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hill County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $181,504. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $64,266 median income, cost of living beats 34% of counties.
Is Hill County safe?
Hill County is safer than 18% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $564 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hill County?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 37. That works out to about 143 pleasant days a year, more than 90% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Hill County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Itasca, Hillsboro, and Whitney. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Hill County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hill County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hill 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.
Hill County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hill County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hill County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hill County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hill County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hill 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.