Bell County · I-14

Harker Heights for a short I-14 morning

Harker Heights is the town with the highest Bell CAD single-family mean in this set, and the morning from 305 Millers Crossing to Bernie Beck is still short: 8.0 miles, typically 9 to 14 minutes, on I-14. Killeen is closer and lower. Belton and Temple are the long drives. The gate at the end of this one is Fort Hood. Older paperwork can still say Fort Cavazos, the name used from 2023 until the return to Fort Hood on June 11, 2025. The ceremony followed on July 28, 2025. The namesake is Col. Robert B. Hood.

Drive: Google Maps, Monday, Oct 5, 2026, 7:00 a.m. Central, checked 2026-10-04. Name: Army announcement and ceremony article.

Appraisal figures: Bell CAD 2025 certified totals, 8/4/2025, checked 2026-10-04. BAH: DoD BAH 2026, TX286, duty ZIP 76544, checked 2026-10-04.

Highest of the four, and a second number beside it

The Category A mean in the box is the highest of Killeen, Harker Heights, Belton, and Temple. Killeen is the lowest. Belton is next under Harker Heights. Temple is under Belton and above Killeen. Harker Heights also has a homestead average in the same certified report, and that average sits above the Category A mean for the city. The count behind the homestead average is smaller than the Category A count. They are two readings of the same report, not two ways of saying one number. Neither is a sale price. Neither is a median. Texas non-disclosure is why the page uses the appraisal district's certified figures.

Temple is the other town with a homestead average on its own page. In words, the Harker Heights homestead average is the higher of those two. The dollars stay in the boxes. The allowance beside this box is the same three with-dependents grades every town page shows, because the orders are to Fort Hood and the housing area is TX286. Duty ZIP 76544 sets the rate. ZIP 76548 on a Harker Heights house is the city's cited ZIP, not a second BAH table.

Eight miles on I-14, still a main-gate plan

The measured origin is 305 Millers Crossing. The route character of this drive, unlike Killeen's 2.6 miles from 101 N College, is the short I-14 run: 8.0 miles, 9 to 14 minutes at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, October 5, 2026. Google Maps supplied the range, typical to worst, and an OpenStreetMap routing check corroborated the Bernie Beck pin. The ID check is outside the range. A house on the far side of the city will not match Millers Crossing minute for minute.

Bernie Beck Main Gate is 24/7 every day, and it takes no commercial cargo trucks. Cargo uses North Clarke Road ACP 9 TIF at the Clarke Road exit, westbound I-14/US-190. That commercial point is not the commute gate, even though this town's morning already uses I-14. The visitor door next to the main gate is Marvin Leath Visitors Welcome Center, Bldg 69012, T.J. Mills Blvd, open 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The official entry page publishes hours for Bernie Beck and stops there. Belton's city hall is 21.5 miles and 20 to 24 minutes, more than twice this distance. Temple is 29.0 miles and 26 to 35 minutes. Killeen remains the only shorter measured morning.

Gate: Fort Hood entry page, checked 2026-10-04. Center: visitor information, checked 2026-10-04.

Killeen ISD, without one high school for the whole city

Harker Heights is in Bell County and is served by Killeen ISD. Confirm the campus by address. Killeen uses that same district name, also by address. The citywide high school is left unnamed here, because a single campus label would overstate what the district page supports. The address check is the step. Belton is the neighbor that leaves Killeen ISD entirely: Belton ISD, with elementary boundaries from March 2023 still the ones in use for 2026–27. Temple goes further and names four districts, including a Belton ISD overlap on the west and southwest side.

Schools: city and district pages, checked 2026-10-04. Confirm by address. County: Texas Municipal League city directory.

Who it suits

Harker Heights suits a Fort Hood report that can use a short I-14 morning and is looking at the highest Category A mean of these four, with the homestead average as a second certified reading rather than a replacement for the mean. It suits a household that will confirm the Killeen ISD campus by address and that does not need one high school name to stand for the city.

It is a weak fit for someone optimizing only for the fewest minutes. Killeen City Hall is 2.6 miles. It is a weak fit for a household that wants Belton ISD, or Temple's four-district map, or the lowest mean. Clarke Road is the cargo point. Bernie Beck is the gate these 9 to 14 minutes were measured to.

Nearby alternatives

• Killeen is closer, 2.6 miles and 4 to 7 minutes from City Hall, in the same district by address, with the lowest Category A mean.
• Belton trades the short I-14 run for 21.5 miles, its own school district, and a Category A mean under Harker Heights.
• Temple is the longest drive and the four-district city, with a homestead average of its own below the one in this box.

Sources and dates

• Origin 305 Millers Crossing; 8.0 miles; 9 to 14 minutes; I-14: Google Maps, Monday, Oct 5, 2026, 7:00 a.m. Central, OSRM-corroborated, checked 2026-10-04.
• Category A mean, count, homestead average, and homestead count: Bell CAD 2025 certified totals, 8/4/2025, checked 2026-10-04.
• Gate hours: entry page, checked 2026-10-04.
• BAH: DoD BAH 2026, checked 2026-10-04.
• Installation name: home.army.mil/hood, June 11 and July 28, 2025.