What is the Best Neighborhoods USA ranking for Castle Forest?
Castle Forest is ranked #7 of 26 eligible neighborhoods in San Marcos; #568 of 1,241 eligible neighborhoods in TX; and #7,234 of 14,967 eligible neighborhoods in the United States.
Neighborhood Profile
Castle Forest
San Marcos, TX | Hays County
Scored premium profile
Best Neighborhoods USA Index
51.1
Stability and Strength
62.5
Value Opportunity
67.7
Momentum
9.8
Score note: Rankings show denominators so users always see the size of the eligible cohort.
| Context | Value |
|---|---|
| Location | San Marcos, TX |
| County | Hays County |
| National rank | #7,234 of 14,967 |
| State rank | #568 of 1,241 |
| City rank | #7 of 26 |
| County rank | #7 of 26 |
| National percentile | 51.7 |
| National band | MIDDLE_50_PERCENT |
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Housing and local fundamentals
| Housing and market metrics | Value |
|---|---|
| Current Zillow home value | $294,147 |
| Year-over-year home value change | -4.8% |
| Month-over-month home value change | -0.36% |
| Home value to income ratio | 3.90 |
| Median household income | $75,424 |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 44.1% |
| Civilian unemployment rate | 2.4% |
| Homeownership rate | 69.6% |
| Housing vacancy rate | 0.0% |
| Rent burden 30% or higher | 52.8% |
How to read this profile
- Ranks are always shown with denominators.
- Momentum reflects both year-over-year and month-over-month housing change.
- Stability and Strength and Value Opportunity are governed composite scores.
- Identity composition is descriptive intelligence and is not a scoring component.
Questions and Answers
Questions About Living in Castle Forest
Is Castle Forest one of the best neighborhoods in San Marcos?
Castle Forest has a Best Neighborhoods USA Index of 51.1 and a city ranking of #7 of 26 eligible neighborhoods in San Marcos.
How much are homes worth in Castle Forest?
The current Zillow Home Value Index for Castle Forest is approximately $294,147.
Are home values rising or falling in Castle Forest?
Zillow neighborhood values changed -4.8% year over year and -0.36% month over month.
What is the Neighborhood Momentum Score for Castle Forest?
Castle Forest has a Neighborhood Momentum Score of 9.8. Momentum is 70% year-over-year and 30% month-over-month Zillow housing change.
What is the median household income in Castle Forest?
The NDS-derived neighborhood median household income is approximately $75,424.
How affordable is Castle Forest relative to household income?
The current Zillow home-value-to-household-income ratio is 3.90. Price-to-income affordability is a major Value Opportunity input.
Is Castle Forest primarily homeowners or renters?
The NDS-derived homeownership rate is approximately 69.6%.
What is the unemployment rate in Castle Forest?
The NDS-derived civilian unemployment rate is approximately 2.4%.
How educated are residents of Castle Forest?
Approximately 44.1% of residents age 25 and older are estimated to have a bachelor's degree or higher.
What share of renters in Castle Forest face high rent burden?
Approximately 52.8% of the applicable renter-household universe is estimated to spend 30% or more of household income on gross rent.
How does Best Neighborhoods USA score Castle Forest?
The overall index combines 40% Stability and Strength, 35% Value Opportunity, and 25% Momentum. Race, ethnicity, and identity composition are not scoring components.
Governed ranking context
How this neighborhood ranks
HMDA Mortgage Intelligence
Neighborhood Mortgage Market
Modeled neighborhood-level mortgage activity allocated from governed HMDA tract data using Zillow neighborhood geometry. These neighborhood values are nonadditive and do not enter the Best Neighborhoods USA Index.
Activity year2024
Estimated applications6
Estimated originations3
Home-purchase applications4
Origination rate61.7%
Home-purchase share77.6%
Average application loan$393,081
Total application loan amount$2,190,175
National application rank#13,599 of 14,874 rankable neighborhoods
Geometry coverage100.0%
Recent trend: Applications 20.0% YoY; originations 20.7% YoY
Mortgage methodology
HMDA is natively reported at tract and other lender-reporting geographies, not Zillow neighborhood or ZIP geography. This module uses the certified NDS HMDA-to-Zillow tract-vintage crosswalk and area-weighted allocation. Rankings require governed geometry coverage. Applicant demographics are excluded. Neighborhood values may overlap and must not be summed to reconstruct ZIP or national totals.
Texas Current Housing Market
Current housing market in Castle Forest
A current-market snapshot based on active sale listings observed in the certified National Data System Texas housing refresh.
9
Active listings observed
$299,900
Median asking price
$193.32
Median asking price / sq. ft.
101.0
Median days on market
1,538 sq. ft.
Median home size
Observed asking-price range: $138,000 to $800,000
Newest listing observed: 2026-09-02 19:00:00-05:00
How this current-market geography is determined
Coverage basis: Exact Zillow neighborhood polygon matches.
9 exact polygon matches. Exact Zillow polygon membership and supplemental Census Block Group association remain separate in the governed data. Supplemental associations are not represented as exact Zillow polygon membership.
Current listing observations are separate from BestNeighborhoodsUSA rankings and do not change neighborhood scores, ranks, historical Zillow trends, Census measures, or HMDA mortgage intelligence.