Killeen, TX — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Texas·Killeen

Bell County · Killeen-Temple · population 160,616

First-time buyersRenter-friendly
Killeen, TX
Image: Wikipedia · Killeen, Texas
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
58
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Killeen stands

Steady, no major recent move.

Median home $220,846
1-year -1.1%
5-yr CAGR +5.3%
vs 5-yr peak -4.5%
Population +1.2%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2022-11$221k$112k$155k$198k$240k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
35/100
Car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
30/100
Minimal transit
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
98/100
Excellent for remote work
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$1,233/mo$936$1,136$1,337202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent130124100120140202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 14.9
Buy

At a 14.9 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Killeen on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 14.9 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
45 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
67 · w22%
Distance from peak
63 · w18%
Population growth
68 · w16%
Rent YoY
36 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
69 · w10%
Long thesis

Killeen has held up across the cycle: home values at $220,846 with +5.3% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Killeen's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.

About Killeen

Killeen is a city in Bell County, Texas, with an estimated population of 160,616. It anchors the Killeen-Temple metro area. The population grew 1.2% annually from 2020 to 2024, a moderate gain. The median home value in Killeen is $220,846 as of 2026-04, down 1.1% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +5.3% annual growth (-4.5% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Killeen average $1,233 per month, down 1.7% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 58 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Healthy 5-year run: +5.3% annualized over 5 years, outpacing US inflation.
●Net positive migration: population up 1.2% per year — demand fundamentals are intact.

▼ Bear case

○Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Killeen (Wikipedia)

Killeen is a city at the U.S. state of Texas, located in Bell County. According to the 2020 census, its population was 153,095, making it the 19th-most populous city in Texas and the largest of the three principal cities of Bell County. It is the principal city of the Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood Metropolitan Statistical Area. Killeen is 55 miles (89 km) north of Austin, 125 miles (201 km) southwest of Dallas, and 125 miles (201 km) northeast of San Antonio.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

City facts

Area55.50 sq mi
Elevation863 ft
Motto"Dedicated Service – Every Day, for Everyone"
Density2765.16/sq mi

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Bell County right now.

NWS active alerts (TX)Texas Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Bell County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Neighborhoods of Killeen

69 tracked · ranked by median home value
1White Rock$326,617+0.5%
2Purser Crossing$311,513-1.4%
3Spanish Oaks$300,161+0.2%
4Yowell Ranch$283,885+0.1%
5The Landing$283,297-0.9%
6Onion Creek$282,799-1.5%
7Savannah Heights$278,859+2.3%
8Bunny Ranch$272,235-2.2%
9Splawn Ranch$266,758-0.8%
10Turtle Bend$255,483-0.5%
11Goodnight Ranch$255,306+0.1%
12Robin Hood$253,119-0.3%
13Eagle Valley$251,324-0.6%
14Rimes Ranch$248,184-1.1%
15Saegert Ranch$247,524-0.6%
16Trimmier Estates$247,139-0.7%
17Bridgewood$240,769-0.5%
18Timber Ridge$238,182+0.5%
19Thunder Creek Estates$233,466-1.5%
20Sunflower Estate$231,247-2.5%
21Brighton Place$230,186-2.7%
22Clear Creek$228,065-0.5%
23Saddleridge Estates$224,023-1.9%
24Spring Valley Estates$223,902-1.0%

See the full neighborhood ranking →

Cities like Killeen

Tyler, TX64 · RisingPearland, TX61 · StablePharr, TX59 · StableHarlingen, TX58 · Stable

Run the numbers for Killeen

ToolCan I afford Killeen?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Killeen rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Killeen to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolKilleen cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
60° / 39°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
95° / 73°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
232
~64% of year
Annual precip
29″ rain
1″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
High
Tornado
Very high
Wildfire
Moderate
Earthquake
Low
Flood
Very high

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Killeen listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Killeen-Temple area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
64%
Moderate climate
Median household income
$73,000
Texas state median
Top industries (state-level)
Energy/Oil & GasTech (Austin)Healthcare

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

Cities similar to Killeen

Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.

See all Texas cities →    Browse best-of lists →