Best PlacesRed Rock, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Red Rock, 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.
Red Rock ranks 32,564th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Red Rock
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.
Red Rock's strengths and weaknesses
Where Red Rock ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 129 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 82% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 80% of towns
Where Red Rock ranks low
- Short commute45.1 minutes each way, better than only 2% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Red Rock
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Red Rock home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $71,527; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Red Rock's effective rate of 0.95%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Red Rock
Red Rock runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Red Rock.
Who works in Red Rock, and how
Work in Red Rock 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 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Red Rock
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Red Rock.
What the weather is like in Red Rock, month by month
Red Rock sees roughly 129 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 50° | 38° |
| April | 83° | 68° | 56° |
| July | 99° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 86° | 71° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Red Rock
Austin-Bergstrom International sits about 22 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 10.7 million passengers in 2025, with 127 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Red Rock
Schools across Red Rock average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mina ElB · 47% proficient
- Smithville ElB− · 42% proficient
- Bluebonnet ElD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Smithville J HB− · 42% proficient
- Bastrop IntC− · 27% proficient
- Cedar Creek MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Smithville H SB− · 45% proficient
- Cedar Creek H SB− · 42% proficient
- Lockhart H SC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Red Rock school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Red Rock 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 Red Rock against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Red Rock
Is Red Rock a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Red Rock ranks 32,564th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, the weather, and a strong job market, and lowest on long commutes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Red Rock expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $287,192. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $71,527 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Red Rock safe?
Red Rock is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $381 per resident a year.
Compare Red Rock with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Red Rock. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Red Rock 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.
Red Rock detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Red Rock: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Red Rock: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Red Rock: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Red Rock: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Red Rock 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.