Best PlacesHillister, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hillister, 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.
Hillister ranks 41,757th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hillister
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.
Hillister's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hillister ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- QuietBetter than 88% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 80% of towns
Where Hillister ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hillister
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hillister home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,090, 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 Hillister's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hillister
Hillister'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 Hillister.
Who works in Hillister, and how
Work in Hillister centers on construction and admin & support services. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hillister
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hillister.
What the weather is like in Hillister, month by month
Hillister sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 50° | 41° |
| April | 79° | 67° | 57° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 72° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Hillister
The nearest airport, Jack Brooks Regional, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hillister
Schools across Hillister average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Warren ElB− · 40% proficient
- Woodville IntC− · 29% proficient
- Spurger ElC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Warren J HC+ · 38% proficient
- Woodville MiddleC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Warren H SB+ · 53% proficient
- Woodville H SB− · 42% proficient
- Spurger H SC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hillister school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hillister 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 Hillister against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hillister
Is Hillister a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hillister ranks 41,757th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, quiet, and tree cover, and lowest on thin health care access and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hillister expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $213,915. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $65,090 median income, cost of living beats 38% of towns.
Is Hillister safe?
Hillister is safer than 19% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $514 per resident a year.
Compare Hillister with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hillister. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hillister 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.
Hillister detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hillister: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hillister: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hillister: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hillister: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hillister 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.