Best PlacesHilltop Lakes, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hilltop Lakes, 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.
Hilltop Lakes ranks 9,639th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Hilltop Lakes
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.
Hilltop Lakes' strengths and weaknesses
Where Hilltop Lakes ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- QuietBetter than 94% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
Where Hilltop Lakes ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Short commute40.6 minutes each way, better than only 5% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 26% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 27% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hilltop Lakes
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hilltop Lakes home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,932, 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 Hilltop Lakes' effective rate of 0.72%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hilltop Lakes
Hilltop Lakes 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 Hilltop Lakes.
Who works in Hilltop Lakes, and how
Work in Hilltop Lakes centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Hilltop Lakes
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hilltop Lakes.
What the weather is like in Hilltop Lakes, month by month
Hilltop Lakes sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| April | 80° | 68° | 58° |
| July | 97° | 85° | 75° |
| October | 84° | 70° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Hilltop Lakes
The nearest airport, Easterwood Field, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hilltop Lakes
Schools across Hilltop Lakes average a B−, better than 58% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Leon ElB · 47% proficient
- Normangee ElC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Normangee MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Leon H SA− · 60% proficient
- Normangee H SB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hilltop Lakes school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hilltop Lakes 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 Hilltop Lakes against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hilltop Lakes
Is Hilltop Lakes a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hilltop Lakes ranks 9,639th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, cell coverage, and a strong job market, 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 Hilltop Lakes expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $255,644. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $72,932 median income, cost of living beats 57% of towns.
Is Hilltop Lakes safe?
Yes, Hilltop Lakes is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $219 per resident a year.
Compare Hilltop Lakes with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hilltop Lakes. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hilltop Lakes 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.
Hilltop Lakes detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hilltop Lakes: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hilltop Lakes: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hilltop Lakes: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hilltop Lakes: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hilltop Lakes 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.