Is Balcones Heights a good place to live?
Balcones Heights grades D− overall, 604th among Texas's 640 graded towns, mostly because of safety and health. It reports more crime per resident than 100% of U.S. towns, including 50 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Residents are less healthy than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. One bright spot: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 98% of U.S. towns. 46% of residents live below the poverty line in Balcones Heights, above both Texas’ towns (12%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Balcones Heights's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 99% of U.S. towns. Only 27 of Texas’ 1,000 towns score lower on history.
What makes Balcones Heights stand out
Where Balcones Heights beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Jobs vs. working residents
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Every workday, about 2,423 people come to Balcones Heights for work
Where Balcones Heights’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Balcones Heights grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Balcones Heights is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D− for safety (better than 1%), so the D− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Alamodome and 37 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Balcones Heights. Close and well known come first.
Big draw7 mi Stadium & arenaAlamodome
6 mi LandmarkAlamo Mission
8 mi Stadium & arenaFrost Bank Center
6 mi LookoutTower of the Americas
8 mi Theme parkSix Flags Fiesta Texas
9 mi Theme parkSeaWorld San AntonioPhoto credits
Alamodome: Billy Hathorn, CC BY 3.0 · Alamo Mission: Zygmunt Put Zetpe0202, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Frost Bank Center: Atristan 77, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tower of the Americas: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0 · Six Flags Fiesta Texas: Chris Hagerman, CC BY-SA 3.0 · SeaWorld San Antonio: TheConduqtor, CC BY-SA 3.0
Moving to Balcones Heights: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Balcones Heights, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Balcones Heights.
Balcones Heights draws workers from San Antonio and beyond and has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns, but it reports violent crime at 5 times the Texas rate.
Compared with most of Texas and the rest of the country, violent crime in Balcones Heights is higher
Violent crime runs at 18.5 per 1,000 residents, 5 times the Texas rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Property crime runs at 117.5 per 1,000 residents, 6 times the Texas rate, most of it theft.
The violent crime rate in Balcones Heights is 18.5 per 1,000 residents. No town among the 488 in Texas we compare has a higher property crime rate than Balcones Heights. Balcones Heights reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 100% report less.
| Balcones Heights | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 18.5 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 117.5 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Gregory the Great Catholic School PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 167 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
Balcones Heights earns a D− for health
Against the 502 U.S. towns with household incomes like Balcones Heights’s, it is less healthy than 62%, so its D− isn’t only a matter of income.
35% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Balcones Heights. Balcones Heights beats the Texas average on 2 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 23. 21% of adults have diabetes in Balcones Heights.
| Balcones Heights | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 24% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 30% | 25% |
| What stands out | Balcones Heights | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4.9% | 6.1% |
| Fewer binge drinkers | 14.3% | 17% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 24.2% | 12.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median household income in Balcones Heights is lower than in the typical Texas or U.S. town
2,452 jobs are based in Balcones Heights, 2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here fell from 4,293 in 2013 to 2,452.
Balcones Heights’ median household income is $29,000. Jobs based in Balcones Heights fell to 2,452 in 2023, 1,841 fewer than in 2013. 2.4% of Balcones Heights working residents work locally.
| Balcones Heights | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $29,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.4% | 8.3% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Homes in Balcones Heights are worth about $195K, by Zillow’s estimate
At 2.6 years of the San Antonio metro’s $76K median household income, the typical home (about $195K) costs less against local pay than in 81% of Texas towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living. The typical value, about $195K, is 10% below its June 2024 peak.
The typical Balcones Heights home is worth about $195,000, down 5.9% in a year, 34% below the Texas typical home. Among 642 Texas towns, just 2 have a lower share of households owning their home than Balcones Heights.
| Balcones Heights | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 14% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $952 a month | $1,208 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Inland flooding leads a low hazard risk in Balcones Heights
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 77% of U.S. communities. Since 2002, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Balcones Heights.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Balcones Heights has mild winters and hot summers
The San Antonio Intl Ap weather station, 5 miles away, records that about 122 days a year reach 90°, more than in 98% of U.S. towns. January nights average 40.8°, milder than in 95% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 95.4°.
Balcones Heights has warm winters and hot summers. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Balcones Heights | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 95°F | 95°F | 85°F |
| January low | 41°F | 37°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Balcones Heights Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Balcones Heights
Colleges nearby
18 within 15 miles of the center of Balcones Heights
About 7 of every 100 Balcones Heights residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.
About Balcones Heights
City in Texas, United States
Balcones Heights is a city in Bexar County, Texas, United States. Its population was 2,746 at the 2020 census, and it was incorporated in 1948. Balcones Heights is an enclave of San Antonio, surrounded entirely by the city, thus some residents and out-of-town visitors erroneously consider it merely a neighborhood of the larger city rather than its own unique community that did so to prevent annexation.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1948
- Area
- 0.6 sq mi
- Elevation
- 830 ft
- Area code
- 210
Questions about Balcones Heights
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Balcones Heights, TX a good place to live?
Balcones Heights grades D− overall, better than 3% of U.S. towns and #604 of 640 in Texas. It grades D− for health, D− for safety and C for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Balcones Heights, TX expensive?
That is 2.6 years of the area's median household income ($76,213 across the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.