Best PlacesTemple, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Temple, 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.
Temple ranks 1,205th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Temple
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.
Temple's strengths and weaknesses
Where Temple ranks high
- Cheap childcare$614 a month, better than 96% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 88% of cities
- Short commute21.2 minutes each way, better than 81% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 146 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of cities
Where Temple ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 20% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 21% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Temple
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Temple home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,258, 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 Temple's effective rate of 1.39%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Temple
Temple runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Temple.
Who works in Temple, and how
Work in Temple centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Temple
Temple has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Temple and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Temple, month by month
Temple sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| April | 79° | 66° | 56° |
| July | 97° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 83° | 69° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Temple
The nearest airport, Robert Gray AAF, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Austin-Bergstrom International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Temple
Schools across Temple average a C+, better than 39% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Westphalia ElA− · 62% proficient
- Lakewood ElB+ · 55% proficient
- Joe M Pirtle ElB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lake Belton MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Academy J HB+ · 51% proficient
- North Belton MiddleB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Lake Belton H SA− · 62% proficient
- Troy H SB+ · 58% proficient
- Rogers H SB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Temple school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Temple 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 Temple against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Temple suits
Families
Schools land around the 39th percentile and crime safety beats 62%.
Common questions about living in Temple
Is Temple a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Temple ranks 1,205th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low taxes, and state finances, and lowest on summer heat and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Temple expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $238,141. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $72,258 median income, cost of living beats 40% of cities.
Is Temple safe?
Yes, Temple is safer than 62% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $368 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Temple?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 37. That works out to about 146 pleasant days a year, more than 80% of cities.
Is Temple good for families?
Schools beat 39% of cities, crime safety beats 62%, and childcare runs $614 a month.
Compare Temple with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Temple. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Temple 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.
Temple detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Temple: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Temple: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Temple: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Temple: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Temple 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.