Best PlacesTalpa, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Talpa, 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.
Talpa ranks 18,933rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Talpa
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.
Talpa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Talpa ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 158 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- QuietBetter than 87% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 87% of towns
Where Talpa ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Talpa
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Talpa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,333, 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 Talpa's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 Talpa
Talpa 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 Talpa.
Who works in Talpa, and how
Work in Talpa centers on construction and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Talpa
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Talpa.
What the weather is like in Talpa, month by month
Talpa sees roughly 158 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 61, 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 | 61° | 46° | 36° |
| April | 81° | 66° | 54° |
| July | 98° | 85° | 73° |
| October | 82° | 67° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Talpa
The nearest airport, Abilene Regional, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Austin-Bergstrom International, about 162 miles away.
The best schools in and around Talpa
Schools across Talpa average a C, better than 39% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ballinger ElC · 35% proficient
- Winters ElC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ballinger J HC+ · 37% proficient
- Winters J HD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Ballinger H SB · 47% proficient
- Winters H SD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Talpa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Talpa 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 Talpa against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Talpa
Is Talpa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Talpa ranks 18,933rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, the weather, and low taxes, and lowest on tree cover and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Talpa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $108,937. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $74,333 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Talpa safe?
Talpa is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $398 per resident a year.
Compare Talpa with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Talpa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Talpa 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.
Talpa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Talpa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Talpa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Talpa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Talpa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Talpa 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.