Living in Central Texas (Waco / Killeen-Temple)

This Central Texas region sits on the I-35 corridor roughly midway between Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin, and its four member places price within the tightest band of any region in this dataset ($228,000-$309,731) while carrying genuinely distinct local economies. Killeen and Harker Heights are directly shaped by Fort Cavazos (renamed from Fort Hood in 2023), the second-largest active-duty Army post in the country, with roughly 52,000 uniformed personnel and a documented $39.1 billion Texas economic contribution -- Killeen the more affordable, base-adjacent option, Harker Heights a genuine, sourced premium for newer construction and higher household income. Temple carries the region's most concrete healthcare-infrastructure case, home to the only Level I Trauma Center between Dallas and Austin plus a major VA hospital, even though its own resident population doesn't yet skew notably older than the national average. Waco, the region's priciest and most culturally distinct member, runs on Baylor University's 20,626 students and a real, sustained tourism boom around Magnolia Market at the Silos. All four sit within the Tornado Alley/Dixie Alley severe-weather overlap -- Waco's own history includes the 1953 F5 tornado that killed 114 people downtown, one of the deadliest in American history.

Explore Central Texas (Waco / Killeen-Temple) in depth

• Cost of Living & Housing in Central Texas (Waco / Killeen-Temple)
• Best Places to Live in Central Texas (Waco / Killeen-Temple)
• Moving to Central Texas (Waco / Killeen-Temple)
• Climate & Lifestyle in Central Texas (Waco / Killeen-Temple)

Places we've researched in Central Texas (Waco / Killeen-Temple)

• Waco -- McLennan County
• Killeen -- Bell County
• Temple -- Bell County
• Harker Heights -- Bell County