Fort Hood Neighborhoods

Bell County · Bernie Beck

Killeen for the shortest Bernie Beck drive

Killeen is the close-in town. City Hall at 101 N College is 2.6 miles from Bernie Beck Main Gate, typically 4 to 7 minutes at 7:00 a.m. on a Monday, and the Bell CAD single-family mean here is the lowest of the four towns on this site. The installation those minutes point at is Fort Hood. From 2023 through 2025 the name on the gate was Fort Cavazos. It is Fort Hood again as of June 11, 2025, with the redesignation ceremony on July 28, 2025. The namesake is Col. Robert B. Hood. A lease, a school form, or a saved map pin from those years can still say Cavazos.

Drive: Google Maps, Monday, Oct 5, 2026, 7:00 a.m. Central, corroborated to the OpenStreetMap Bernie Beck pin, checked 2026-10-04. Name: U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hood and the June 11, 2025 Army announcement; ceremony: July 28, 2025 article.

Killeen at a glance
ItemFigure
Mean market value Mean market value from Bell CAD 2025 certified ARB totals (Category A single-family; not a median; not a sale price). $231,980. n = 40,958. Certification dated 8/4/2025. Lowest Category A mean of the four towns.
School district Killeen ISD. Confirm the campus by address.
Drive to Bernie Beck Main Gate 4 to 7 minutes, 2.6 miles, from City Hall, 101 N College. Monday, Oct 5, 2026, 7:00 a.m. Central, typical to worst. Measured to the Bernie Beck / Marvin Leath area. Excludes the gate ID-check wait.
ZIPs cited here 76541 and 76540.
County Bell
TX286 BAH with dependents, 2026, beside the Killeen mean
Pay gradeWith dependents, monthly
E-5$1,695
E-6$1,920
O-3$2,340

Mean: Bell CAD 2025 certified totals, ARB approved, 8/4/2025, checked 2026-10-04. BAH: DoD BAH 2026, housing area TX286, duty ZIP 76544, checked 2026-10-04. County: Texas Municipal League city directory.

What the allowance is doing next to that mean

The smaller table is monthly Basic Allowance for Housing with dependents for TX286, Fort Hood / Killeen, grades E-5, E-6, and O-3. The full table is on the BAH page. The allowance follows duty ZIP 76544, not whichever of Killeen's cited ZIPs is on a mailbox. The figure in the large box is the Bell CAD Category A mean: an appraisal value, not a median and not a sale price. Texas is a non-disclosure state, which is why the page uses the certified total. The two numbers sit side by side as different kinds of figures.

Of the four Category A means, Killeen's is the lowest and Harker Heights' is the highest. Belton sits under Harker Heights and above Temple. Temple sits under Belton and above Killeen. Killeen's count is the largest of the four, so the citywide certified figure is the one this page uses.

Area name and ZIP 76544: DoD BAH 2026 ASCII, checked 2026-10-04.

Two and a half miles, and which pin to trust

The origin is City Hall, 101 N College. The destination used for every town on this site is the Bernie Beck / Marvin Leath area. Bernie Beck Main Gate is open 24/7 every day. It is not a commercial cargo entrance. Trucks with cargo use North Clarke Road ACP 9 TIF, at the Clarke Road exit on westbound I-14/US-190, and that point is not a commuter gate. Marvin Leath Visitors Welcome Center, Bldg 69012 on T.J. Mills Blvd, Fort Hood, TX 76544, sits adjacent to the main gate and is open 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The official entry page publishes hours for Bernie Beck. The 4-to-7-minute range is driving time only. The ID check at the gate sits outside it.

A map search for the name Bernie Beck can land on Clear Creek Gate at 1425 Clear Creek Rd. Clear Creek is a different gate. This site uses the name Bernie Beck for the main gate. The drive was checked on Google Maps for Monday, October 5, 2026, at 7:00 a.m. Central, then corroborated to the OpenStreetMap pin for Bernie Beck. On a 2.6-mile trip, the wrong pin is a large share of the morning. Harker Heights is next, at 8.0 miles. Belton is 21.5 miles. Temple is 29.0 miles.

Gate: Fort Hood entry page, checked 2026-10-04. Welcome center: visitor information and Military OneSource, checked 2026-10-04. Drives: Google Maps, checked 2026-10-04.

Killeen ISD, confirmed by the address

Killeen is in Bell County with Harker Heights, Belton, and Temple. Students are served by Killeen ISD, and the campus is confirmed by address. Harker Heights uses that same district name and a different commute. Belton is Belton ISD. Temple splits across Temple ISD, Belton ISD, Academy ISD, and Troy ISD, with Belton ISD on the west and southwest. The ZIPs cited for Killeen are 76541 and 76540.

County: Texas Municipal League city directory. Schools: city and district pages; confirm by address. Checked 2026-10-04.

Who it suits

Killeen suits a Fort Hood report that wants the shortest measured morning of these four and can live with the lowest Category A mean, with City Hall as the reference point rather than a promise about every house. It suits a household that will check the Killeen ISD campus by address and that knows the gate to plan around is Bernie Beck, open all day, with the welcome center next door on a shorter clock.

It is a weak fit for someone who wants the highest mean. That one is Harker Heights. It is a weak fit for a district other than Killeen ISD. Belton and Temple are where that story changes. A pin that says Clear Creek is a different gate from the one these minutes use.

Nearby alternatives

Sources and dates