Best PlacesWaco, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waco, 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.
Waco ranks 28,646th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Waco
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.
Waco's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waco ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 87% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 80% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 79% of towns
- Cheap childcare$684 a month, better than 68% of towns
Where Waco ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 7% of towns
- Household income$52,985 median, better than only 16% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 17% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 32% of towns
- Short commute30.2 minutes each way, better than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Waco
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waco home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,985, 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 Waco's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Waco
Waco's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Waco.
Who works in Waco, and how
Work in Waco centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Waco
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Waco.
What the weather is like in Waco, month by month
Waco sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 41° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Waco
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 29 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.9 million passengers in 2025, with 213 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Waco
Schools across Waco average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Washington ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Burns MiddleA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Cleveland EchsA+ · 83% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waco school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waco 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 Waco against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Waco
Is Waco a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waco ranks 28,646th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and cell coverage, and lowest on education levels and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waco expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $114,250. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $52,985 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Waco safe?
Waco is safer than 35% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $386 per resident a year.
Compare Waco with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waco. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waco 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.
Waco detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waco: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waco: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waco: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waco: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waco 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.