Best PlacesStephenville, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stephenville, 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.
Stephenville ranks 1,551st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stephenville
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.
Stephenville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stephenville ranks high
- Short commute17.8 minutes each way, better than 94% of cities
- QuietBetter than 91% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 162 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of cities
Where Stephenville ranks low
- Household income$57,125 median, better than only 5% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Stephenville
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stephenville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $57,125, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Stephenville's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Stephenville
Stephenville runs younger 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 Stephenville.
Who works in Stephenville, and how
Work in Stephenville centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Stephenville
Stephenville has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of cities and more parkland per resident than 94% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Stephenville and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Stephenville, month by month
Stephenville sees roughly 162 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 46° | 36° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 96° | 84° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Stephenville
The nearest airport, Waco Regional, is about 72 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 83 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stephenville
Schools across Stephenville average a B, better than 67% of cities.
Top elementary schools
Top middle schools
- Henderson J HA− · 53% proficient
- Dublin IntB+ · 51% proficient
- Gilbert IntC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Stephenville H SB+ · 57% proficient
- Dublin H SB+ · 55% proficient
- Lipan H SB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stephenville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stephenville 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 Stephenville against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Stephenville suits
Common questions about living in Stephenville
Is Stephenville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stephenville ranks 1,551st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on short commutes, quiet, and low taxes, and lowest on low incomes and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stephenville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $268,797. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $57,125 median income, cost of living beats 14% of cities.
Is Stephenville safe?
Stephenville is safer than 16% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $522 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stephenville?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 36. That works out to about 162 pleasant days a year, more than 86% of cities.
Is Stephenville good for families?
Schools beat 67% of cities, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $863 a month.
Compare Stephenville with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stephenville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stephenville 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.
Stephenville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stephenville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stephenville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stephenville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stephenville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stephenville 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.