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Balcones Heights, Texas

Balcones Heights is a suburb of about 2,700 people in Bexar County, Texas, in the San Antonio area. Its population has held about steady since 2020. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, San Antonio, is about 2 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of San Antonio

Population
2,728
down 0.6% since 2020
Household income
$29,375
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, San Antonio area
94.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
2 miles
San Antonio, TX
To San Antonio
2 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 5.3% below the U.S. average in the San Antonio-New Braunfels metro area.
  • More house for the moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Balcones Heights to say.
  • A safer neighborhood50 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 18.5 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 117.5 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town6 public schools. No public high school in town: the nearest is Jefferson H S, about 2 miles away.
  • A hospital close byMethodist Hospital in San Antonio, about 2 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big citySan Antonio is about 2 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Balcones Heights meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Balcones Heights runs into the built-up area around San Antonio (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Home prices since then
Up 3.6%Bexar County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$952 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$29,375U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
14%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,734 a yearTexas: $4,232
Homes built before 1940
0%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
6%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
94.7U.S. average = 100 (the San Antonio-New Braunfels metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 3.6% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the San Antonio-New Braunfels metro area, not Balcones Heights alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
2,7282020: 2,745
Median age
32.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
12%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
20%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
14%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
10%U.S.: 6%
College students
7%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (16%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (16%)
Unemployment rate
6%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
25 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
6%U.S.: 15%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Methodist Hospital, San Antonio, TX, about 2 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

6 public schools in Balcones Heights, run by San Antonio Isd and Compass Rose Public Schools. The nearest public high school is Jefferson H S, about 2 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Texas's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
69%U.S.: 76%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
41°F
July average high
95°F
Days 90°F or hotter
122 a year
Nights at or below freezing
14 a year
Rain and melted snow
32.4 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
855 feet

Weather station: San Antonio Intl Ap (5 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Methodist Hospital, San Antonio.

Bexar County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • San Antonio Missions National Historical Park8 miles
  • Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park52 miles

Read about Balcones Heights's history on Wikipedia.

Know Balcones Heights?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Hill Country Village, TX970 people, 7 miles
  • Grey Forest, TX510 people, 12 miles
  • Macdona, TX (unincorporated)349 people, 15 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.