Find Your San Antonio Neighborhood.
The San Antonio area in 12 parts of town, each with an overview page, and my 34 neighborhood and city guides sorted under them. Every guide gives that place's school district, county, driving miles to the nearest JBSA installation, 2026 tax rates and live listings.
Let's Talk About Your Next Move →Questions about a neighborhood? Call or text me at (919) 800-9870
This page splits the San Antonio area into 12 parts of town, from Downtown & Midtown to the Hill Country and the New Braunfels, San Marcos and Seguin ring. Each area has an overview page that compares its communities, including many without a guide of their own, and my 34 neighborhood guides sit under the area they belong to. Each card shows the school district, the county and the approximate road miles to the nearest JBSA gate; each guide adds that place's 2026 tax rates, school details, and live listings and recent sales.
The San Antonio metro is home to more than 2.5 million people, and its neighborhoods differ in the ways that change your monthly payment and your daily drive: school district, county, city limits and tax rate. Below, the metro is split into 12 areas, each with an overview page, and my 34 neighborhood guides sit inside them, from streets a couple of miles from Randolph's gate to Hill Country acreage and historic houses near downtown.
For installation guides, BAH basics and VA loan details, start at my military hub. The guides below handle the neighborhood side: what each place costs to own, which districts serve it, and how far it is from each gate.
Compare your BAH, which you can look up at travel.dod.mil, with the full monthly payment, including the property taxes on each guide. Buying with a VA loan? My VA loans page covers the funding fee, loan limits and assumptions.
How Do You Choose a San Antonio Neighborhood?
Before you look at a single listing, answer these four questions.
Where are you going every day?
Start with the gate or office you'll drive to. The northeast-side cities ring Randolph, Midtown and Terrell Hills sit near Fort Sam Houston, Valley Hi and Westwood Village are about half a mile and 2 miles from Lackland, and The Dominion and Shavano Park are about 3.5 and 6.5 miles from Camp Bullis. Drive times vary by time of day, traffic, and gate. Check current conditions for your route before deciding.
Does the school district matter to you?
If it does, check it by address. Districts don't follow city names: Converse and Schertz addresses can each fall in three districts, and Universal City, Live Oak, Terrell Hills, Timberwood Park and New Braunfels are each split between two. Confirm the district for the house, then look up the campus at tea.texas.gov.
What's your budget?
Get pre-approved, then settle on a monthly payment that feels comfortable; the price alone won't tell you that. Taxes move that payment a lot here. For a home inside city limits, 2026 combined rates start around $1.73 per $100 in Garden Ridge and reach about $2.75 in Somerset, and a special district can push an unincorporated address higher still, so equal prices don't mean equal payments.
What kind of home do you want?
A new build with an HOA and a builder warranty, a 1920s bungalow in a historic district, and a few acres on septic are very different purchases. Decide which one fits before you tour. If it's a new build, my new construction page explains why I should be with you at the first model visit.
Which Cities Make Up North Central San Antonio?
This is the established middle of the city, from Hildebrand Avenue north to Loop 1604. I-10 bounds it on the west and, roughly, Wurzbach Parkway and Loop 410 on the east, so it takes in the airport and the US-281 corridor inside 1604. The Alamo Heights ISD cities of Alamo Heights, Olmos Park and Terrell Hills sit close to Fort Sam Houston, with 2026 average homestead taxable values from about $885,000 to more than $1.15 million. Hollywood Park and Shavano Park are farther north, near Loop 1604, and Shavano Park is about 6.5 miles from Camp Bullis.
Seven small cities and the neighborhoods between them, from Shearer Hills and Oak Park-Northwood to Castle Hills and Hill Country Village, compared side by side.
View North Central Alamo HeightsFort Sam ~3.5 miIts own small city up Broadway from downtown, with its own police, houses from early-1900s bungalows through mid-century, and almost all new construction coming as teardown-rebuilds.
View Alamo Heights Hollywood ParkFort Sam ~13 mi · Camp Bullis ~13 miA town of about 3,100 along US-281 just south of Loop 1604, incorporated in 1955 and served by its own police and fire departments. Lots are large and tree-covered, and more than half of its homes were built in the 1960s and 1970s.
View Hollywood Park Olmos ParkFort Sam ~4.5 miA 0.6-square-mile city surrounded by San Antonio just north of downtown, with its own city hall, police and fire, and about 975 housing units, nearly half built in 1939 or earlier.
View Olmos Park Shavano ParkCamp Bullis ~6.5 miA small city inside Loop 1604 around Huebner and Lockhill Selma roads, about 12 miles north of downtown, where most houses sit on 0.7 acre or more.
View Shavano Park Terrell HillsFort Sam gate ~2.5 miA 1.6-square-mile city incorporated in 1939, just across Harry Wurzbach Road from Fort Sam Houston, with much of its housing from the 1930s through the 1960s and newer rebuilds mixed in.
View Terrell HillsWhich Neighborhoods Are in Downtown and Midtown?
Downtown fills the ring formed by I-35, I-10 and I-37. Midtown climbs north from it to Hildebrand Avenue, and the river neighborhoods follow the San Antonio River south to Lone Star Boulevard. It's all City of San Antonio and San Antonio ISD, at about $2.51 per $100 for 2026, and most of these neighborhoods include city historic districts, where exterior work needs the city's approval first. Fort Sam Houston is about 2.5 to 5.5 driving miles away.
All eight neighborhoods on one page, including Beacon Hill, Lavaca and downtown itself, which don't have guides of their own, with the extra tax line inside the downtown improvement district.
View Downtown & Midtown King WilliamWalters Gate ~4.5 miTexas' first residential historic district: about 22 blocks along the San Antonio River just south of downtown, settled by German merchants in the mid-1800s, with its oldest surviving houses from the 1860s and 1870s.
View King William Mahncke ParkFort Sam gate ~3 miMidtown streets wedged between Brackenridge Park and Fort Sam Houston, home to the Botanical Garden and the Witte, where older houses and duplexes sit beside newer infill.
View Mahncke Park Monte VistaWalters Gate ~5 miAbout 100 blocks of historic district just north of downtown, its houses mostly from 1890 to 1930 in styles from Victorian to bungalow; any change to the outside needs the City's sign-off.
View Monte Vista SouthtownFort Sam ~5.5 miThe arts-centered area just south of downtown, with the Blue Star Arts Complex, First Friday art walks, and historic houses in the King William and Lavaca historic districts.
View Southtown Tobin HillWalters Gate ~2.5 miRight above downtown, from San Pedro Avenue over to US 281 and the Pearl, mixing old mansions and Craftsman bungalows with post-war apartments and the newer buildings near the Pearl.
View Tobin HillWhere Are the East Side and Southeast?
This side of town begins just east of downtown and I-37, below Fort Sam Houston, and runs out beyond Loop 1604 to Elmendorf, China Grove and St. Hedwig. The close-in end is two city historic districts, Government Hill and Dignowity Hill, and from Government Hill the drive to Fort Sam's Walters Gate is only about 1.5 miles. Farther out, the former Brooks base has new streets of its own.
Government Hill, Dignowity Hill and Denver Heights near Fort Sam, the new communities around Brooks and Loop 410, and the small towns to the southeast.
View the East Side Government Hill & Dignowity HillFort Sam Walters Gate ~1.5 to 2.5 miTwo near East Side neighborhoods, each with a City historic district. Most houses date from before 1950, and inside the district line, exterior work needs the City's approval first.
View Government Hill & Dignowity HillWhat Is in Far North San Antonio and Stone Oak?
US-281 runs up the middle of this area once you cross Loop 1604. Its west side starts around Blanco Road, and Cibolo Creek, which is also the Comal County line, closes it off to the east. Stone Oak is inside San Antonio; Timberwood Park is unincorporated Bexar County, so it pays no city tax. Camp Bullis's gate is about 14 miles from Stone Oak and 17 from Timberwood Park.
Compares Stone Oak and Timberwood Park with Sonterra, Encino Park, Kinder Ranch and Cibolo Canyons, and shows where builders are still selling.
View Far North Cibolo CanyonsRandolph ~14 to 16 miSome 2,000 homes beside the JW Marriott resort and TPC San Antonio's two golf courses, mostly resales now, in unincorporated Bexar County, where the Cibolo Canyons Special Improvement District stands in for a city tax.
View Cibolo Canyons Stone OakCamp Bullis ~14 miThe big master plan north of Loop 1604 on the west side of US-281, built from the late 1980s on, where a property owners association sits above about three dozen neighborhood HOAs and few empty lots remain.
View Stone Oak Timberwood ParkCamp Bullis ~17 miAn unincorporated community on US-281 north of Stone Oak, so there's no city property tax. Homes in the main Timberwood Park neighborhood have their own septic systems. Newer sections can differ, and builders are still adding homes off Kinder Parkway.
View Timberwood ParkWhich Communities Are on the Far West Side?
The far West Side sits past Loop 1604, from Shaenfield Road down to US-90 and out toward Castroville, plus SH 151 near SeaWorld. It's mostly master-planned communities, the majority in unincorporated Bexar County. Northside ISD covers the northern half, and Medina Valley ISD most of the SH 211 and US-90 side. Lackland's Valley Hi Gate is the nearest 24/7 gate, about 8 to 16 miles out.
Compares Alamo Ranch with Stillwater Ranch, Kallison Ranch, Ladera, Redbird Ranch and more, with where builders are selling now and the special districts that raise some tax bills.
View the Far West Side Alamo RanchLackland ~11 miPhase after phase of builder homes off Alamo Ranch Parkway, which runs from Loop 1604 out to Culebra Road, with Lennar's Morgan Meadows going up next door. Part of it is inside San Antonio city limits and part is county, which changes the tax bill.
View Alamo Ranch CastrovilleLackland ~15 to 16 miIts own small city on US-90 and the Medina River: an 1844 old town plus two newer communities, Alsatian Oaks and Flat Creek, where builder base prices start around $390,000.
View Castroville Kallison RanchLackland ~16 miA master-planned community out Culebra Road past Loop 1604, built from 2006 on around two pools and a catch-and-release pond, with Perry Homes and Meritage Homes still selling new homes there.
View Kallison RanchWhich Hill Country Communities Are Closest to San Antonio?
North and northwest of Camp Bullis, I-10 climbs past Fair Oaks Ranch to Boerne in Kendall County, and US-281 and SH 46 lead to Bulverde, Spring Branch and Canyon Lake in Comal County. Lots run bigger, many homes are on septic, and almost every address is in Boerne ISD or Comal ISD. Camp Bullis is the nearest JBSA location for all three guides; the miles shown are to its main gate on the south side of the reservation.
Fair Oaks Ranch, Boerne and Bulverde with Esperanza, Cordillera Ranch, Johnson Ranch, Spring Branch and Canyon Lake, and the water districts that change tax bills outside the cities.
View the Hill Country BoerneCamp Bullis main gate ~16 miThe Kendall County seat, about 31 driving miles up I-10 from downtown San Antonio, with historic homes near Main Street, newer subdivisions in the city, and acreage and golf communities just outside it.
View Boerne BulverdeCamp Bullis main gate ~22 miA Certified Scenic City where US-281, TX-46 and FM 1863 meet, about 26 driving miles north of downtown. Lots range from subdivision size to Hill Country acreage, and a Bulverde mailing address doesn't always mean a home is inside the city.
View Bulverde EsperanzaCamp Bullis ~19 miA 1,700-acre community on SH 46 east of Boerne, with five builders from about $475,000, Toll Brothers' age-restricted (55+) Regency section, The Club's lazy river, and a water district tax instead of a city tax.
View Esperanza Fair Oaks RanchCamp Bullis main gate ~10 miA city off I-10 whose boundary touches the Camp Bullis Military Reservation, with large lots, many homes on septic, and a golf and country club that started in the original ranch owner's home.
View Fair Oaks RanchWhich Neighborhoods Are Near Lackland AFB?
Most of this area lies below US-90 and west of I-35, spreading from the base to Von Ormy, Somerset and Lytle beyond Loop 1604. Two older neighborhoods just across the highway are included as well: Westwood Village, about 2 miles from the Luke East Gate, and Heritage. Valley Hi sits about half a mile from Lackland's Valley Hi Gate. I haven't written separate neighborhood guides here, so the area page carries the detail.
What About New Braunfels, San Marcos and Seguin?
The outer ring: up I-35 to New Braunfels and San Marcos, and out I-10 East to Seguin, the Guadalupe County seat. Each has its own historic downtown and river, and builders are active in master-planned communities around all three. Randolph's Lindsey Gate is the nearest 24/7 gate, about 18 miles from New Braunfels, 24 from Seguin and 35 from San Marcos. Drive times vary by time of day, traffic, and gate. Check current conditions for your route before deciding. Considering a new build up here? Start with my new construction page.
Compares New Braunfels and San Marcos with Seguin, Veramendi, Mayfair, Vintage Oaks and Navarro Ranch.
View the Outer Ring New BraunfelsRandolph ~18 miA city of about 122,000 founded by German settlers in 1845, about 31 driving miles from downtown San Antonio, with older streets near downtown and Gruene and large master-planned communities still building.
View New Braunfels San MarcosRandolph ~35 miHome to Texas State University and the spring-fed San Marcos River, about 49 driving miles from downtown San Antonio and 31 from Austin, with homes from early-1900s houses to new master-planned communities.
View San MarcosWhich Neighborhoods Are Near JBSA-Randolph?
North of I-10 East and beyond Loop 410, these cities line I-35 and FM 78 out toward Garden Ridge and Marion. All eight are the closest of my guides to Randolph, from homes a couple of miles outside the main gate to newer subdivisions off I-35 and FM 78, in SCUCISD, Judson, East Central, North East, Comal and Marion ISDs. Several are an I-35 or Loop 410 drive from Fort Sam Houston. Builders are still selling in Schertz, Cibolo and Converse; my new construction page explains my role from the first model visit on.
My eight Randolph-side city guides compared on one page, plus Selma, Woodlake, Kirby and Santa Clara, which don't have guides of their own.
View Northeast / Randolph CiboloRandolph main gate ~4 miAn FM 78 city that grew from 3,035 people in 2000 to 32,276 in 2020, with planned subdivisions, HOAs on many streets, and new D.R. Horton homes from about $350,000.
View Cibolo ConverseRandolph main gate ~2.5 mi1990s resale streets plus builder communities with base prices from the low $180,000s. A Converse mailing address can mean three different school districts and three different tax setups.
View Converse Garden RidgeRandolph main gate ~8.5 miA small, almost entirely residential city off FM 3009 between San Antonio and New Braunfels, with lots that often run three-quarters of an acre to an acre, mature oaks and very little new building.
View Garden Ridge Live OakRandolph main gate ~4 miA 4.8-square-mile city at I-35 and Loop 1604 that runs its own police, fire and water service, with 1960s and 1970s homes near the 75-acre Main City Park, and subdivisions built since 2000.
View Live Oak MarionRandolph ~9.5 miA railroad town of about 1,100 on FM 78 east of Randolph, with one Marion ISD campus for each grade level. The city covers three-quarters of a square mile, so most new building is just outside it.
View Marion SchertzRandolph main gate ~2.5 miAn I-35 city spread across three counties, with 1950s homes near Randolph, master-planned communities like The Crossvine and Homestead where builders are still selling, and SCUCISD for most addresses.
View Schertz Universal CityRandolph main gate ~2 miThe city right next to Randolph, made up mostly of established resale homes (the median was built in 1984), with Judson ISD across most of town and SCUCISD on the east side nearest the base.
View Universal City WindcrestFort Sam & BAMC ~5 miA 2.15-square-mile city just east of Loop 410, mostly 1960s and 1970s homes on lots a little over a quarter acre, and a Christmas lights tradition that started in the 1950s and still runs as the annual Light Up contest.
View WindcrestWhich Communities Are on the Northwest Side?
The Northwest Side starts at the Medical Center and Loop 410 and fans out between I-10 and Bandera Road, well past Loop 1604. USAA's headquarters on Fredericksburg Road is here too. Leon Valley is about 9 miles from Lackland, while Helotes and The Dominion are closer to Camp Bullis, The Dominion at about 3.5 miles. All three are in Northside ISD.
Compares the Medical Center, Leon Valley, Helotes and The Dominion with Braun Station, Great Northwest, Crownridge and Leon Springs.
View the Northwest Side HelotesCamp Bullis ~10 mi · Lackland ~17 miA city of about 10,400 along Bandera Road where the Hill Country starts, with about a third of in-city homes on an acre or more and Floore's Country Store, a dance hall that's now a Texas Historic Landmark.
View Helotes Leon ValleyLackland ~9 miAn independent city of about 11,500 on Bandera Road between Loops 410 and 1604, running its own police and fire departments, with mostly 1960s and 1970s homes, and the Medical Center about 3.5 miles away.
View Leon Valley The DominionCamp Bullis ~3.5 miAbout 1,600 acres inside San Antonio city limits off I-10 west of Loop 1604, with three staffed gates, homes from garden homes to custom estates, and a country club whose membership isn't part of HOA dues.
View The DominionWhere Is San Antonio's South Side?
Below downtown and US-90, I-35 and I-37 frame this side of town all the way past Loop 410 to Loop 1604. It holds the Mission Reach, Harlandale's established streets, Texas A&M-San Antonio, and newer builder communities such as VIDA and Mission del Lago. From Palo Alto, Applewhite Meadows or VIDA, Lackland's Luke East Gate is about 8 to 9.5 miles; the communities farther east are closer to Fort Sam.
Where Is San Antonio's West Side?
This is the older city west of downtown and I-10, inside Loop 410, from US-90 up to Fredericksburg Road. Most homes were built between the 1920s and the 1970s, and there's no builder community selling new homes here. Lackland is about 6.5 to 10 miles away, and Fort Sam about 5.5 to 11.
Common Questions
Universal City sits right next to the base, about 2 road miles from the main gate. Schertz and Converse (about 2.5) and Cibolo and Live Oak (about 4) are the next closest, Windcrest is about 7.5, and Garden Ridge and Marion are about 8.5 and 9.5 miles out. Drive times vary by time of day, traffic, and gate. Check current conditions for your route before deciding.
Get pre-approved, so you know your price range and a payment you can live with, then narrow the map by your installation using the guides above. Send me your report date and the neighborhoods on your list, and I'll set up tours in person or by video.
Among my guides within about 10 driving miles of a gate, Live Oak ($219,563), Leon Valley ($229,768) and Universal City ($285,096) have the lowest 2026 average homestead taxable values, and Converse builders list base prices from the low $180,000s. Taxable values are appraisal figures, not sale prices, so check the live listings on each guide for today's prices. The Lackland & Southwest, South Side and East Side & Southeast area pages also list the builder communities there, with rounded base prices.
Yes. Plenty of my clients close before their first visit to San Antonio. From overseas or another state, you can see homes on a video tour with me, and I write and negotiate your offer and coordinate inspections. Your lender and title company can tell you how signing works if you're still overseas at closing.
Each guide names the districts that serve that place and where the lines fall, so start there. Several places have more than one, Fair Oaks Ranch and San Marcos among them. Once you have an address, check with the district for the assigned campus, then look that campus up at tea.texas.gov.
The Northwest Side follows I-10 and Bandera Road out from Loop 410 and the Medical Center, through Leon Valley and past Loop 1604 to Helotes and The Dominion, and Camp Bullis is the nearest base for most of it. The far West Side begins west of Loop 1604 and runs from Shaenfield Road south across Culebra Road, Potranco Road and SH 211 to US-90. It's mostly master-planned communities, Alamo Ranch among them, and Lackland's Valley Hi Gate is the closest gate. Drive times vary by time of day, traffic, and gate. Check current conditions for your route before deciding.
Both are mostly in SCUCISD, and both have newer subdivisions with builders still selling. Schertz reaches into Guadalupe, Bexar and Comal counties, and it's about 2.5 miles from Randolph's main gate; Cibolo is in Guadalupe County, about 4 miles out. Their combined homestead rates in SCUCISD land within about two cents of each other, since both share the school district's rate, and each guide breaks down the 2026 numbers.
Not Sure Which Community Fits Your Situation?
Tell me where you'll drive every day, whether the school district matters, and the payment you're comfortable with. Pick the guides that fit, and I'll show you homes there, in person or on a video call, and put in the offer when one feels right.
Tiffany Reed, REALTOR® | MRP | Real Broker LLC
(919) 800-9870 | tiffany@tiffanyreedtx.com | tiffanyreedtx.com
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