Salado is a nice area with a smaller school and community. It's a good 15 minute haul to Temple from there, which if she's coming from DFW/Houston/SA/Austin, that may not be a problem and may actually be an improvement. Fun downtown and creek area that brings in a lot of people and lots of restaurants for a town its size. I'd say on any given night, there may be more people from Austin/Temple/Belton in Salado than actual people that live there.
That being said, single, married, kids? There's plenty of stuff for kids in Salado, but there's probably more youth league stuff in Temple. I wouldn't imagine staying in Salado itself would be a ton of fun for a single person, but Temple is close enough. Salado does have plenty of night life, albeit.
Good luck buying a house right now though. Tell her to come in high.
