Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Pauls Valley gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $145K, 2.5 years of the county’s $59K median household income. It grades C− overall, 83rd of 131 graded towns in Oklahoma. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 78% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top, and the median household income is $50K, and 24% of residents live below the poverty line. 36% of working residents work locally in Pauls Valley, above both Oklahoma’s towns (22%) and U.S. towns (8%). Pauls Valley has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Garvin County Courthouse and Pauls Valley Historic District. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 87% of the country.
Where Pauls Valley beats most towns.
Garvin County CourthouseWhere Pauls Valley’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Oklahoma), ordered by how far Pauls Valley is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,467 in 1900, 5,992 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1902 and 4 maps from 1898 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Pauls Valley, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Pauls Valley.
Pauls Valley draws workers from Oklahoma City and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has hotter summers than nearly all U.S. towns.
3,925 jobs are based in Pauls Valley, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 3 of Pauls Valley’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Oklahoma City (5%), Ardmore (5%) and Ada (5%). Half commute less than 19 miles.
| Pauls Valley | Oklahoma towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $50,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Pauls Valley school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Pauls Valley HS, with 361 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pauls Valley Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 462 | – |
| Pauls Valley HSLargest public high schoolGrades 10–12 | Grades 10–12 | 361 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OK on state tests and graduation
Against the 5,919 U.S. towns with household incomes like Pauls Valley’s, it is less healthy than 69%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income. Within Oklahoma it is less healthy than 61% of the 131 graded towns: much of Oklahoma scores lower on these measures.
15% of Pauls Valley adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Pauls Valley beats the Oklahoma average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 13% of Pauls Valley adults binge drink.
| Pauls Valley | Oklahoma towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 11% | 8.1% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 40% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 14% |
| What stands out | Pauls Valley | OK |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 25% | 16.4% |
| More uninsured adults | 14.7% | 11.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.8% | 8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 212 to 146 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Pauls Valley’s violent crime rate is 4.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Pauls Valley | Oklahoma towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.2 per 1,000 residents | 2.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 19.6 per 1,000 residents | 14 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The median property tax bill is $669, against $1,599 across Oklahoma, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
50% of households own their home in Pauls Valley. The typical Pauls Valley home is worth about $145,000, up 4.3% in a year, 34% below the Oklahoma typical home. The median rent in Pauls Valley is $852 a month.
| Pauls Valley | Oklahoma towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 50% | 62% | 73% |
| Median rent | $852 a month | $875 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Since 1979, 23 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Pauls Valley.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0.2 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. The biggest park or preserve is Wacker Park, at 58 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wacker Park | — | 58 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
July afternoons average 94.5°, hotter than in 95% of U.S. towns; January nights average 28.2°.
Pauls Valley has mild winters and hot summers. About 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Pauls Valley | Oklahoma towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 95°F | 93°F | 85°F |
| January low | 28°F | 28°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
None within 15 miles of Pauls Valley; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Pauls Valley residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Oklahoma.
12 notable people were born in Pauls Valley.
City in Oklahoma, US
Pauls Valley is a city in and the county seat of Garvin County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 5,992 at the 2020 census, a decline of 3.2 percent from the figure of 6,187 in 2010. It was settled by and named for Smith Paul, a North Carolina native who married a Chickasaw woman and became a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation before the Civil War. The town economy is largely based on agriculture and oil production.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Pauls Valley grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #83 of 131 in Oklahoma. It grades D for health, C− for safety and B+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
12 notable people were born here, including Joseph Glasco and G. D. Spradlin.