Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Baytown grades D overall, ranked 574th of 640 in Texas, mostly because of safety and health. Its police reported 342 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 87% of U.S. towns. Residents are less healthy than 76% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. One bright spot: it has 21 miles of trail. Baytown’s January low is 44°F, where Texas’ towns sit at 37°F and U.S. towns at 22°F. Baytown is home to Lee College. Baytown's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 95% of U.S. towns.
Where Baytown beats most towns.
| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Lee College | 6,817 |
71,802 counted in 2010 and 83,701 in 2020; an estimated 86,561 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Baytown is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 22,983 in 1950, 83,701 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1917 and 6 maps from 1916 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Baytown, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Baytown.
Baytown has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and trades workers with Houston and other neighbors, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Reported crimes fell from 3,128 to 2,381 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Baytown is 23.7 per 1,000 residents. Baytown reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 87% report less. The violent crime rate in Baytown is 4 per 1,000 residents.
| Baytown | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 23.7 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by Goose Creek CISD. Three of its 30 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| E F Green Junior SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,095 | – |
| Goose Creek MemorialLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,335 | B− |
| Impact Early College H STop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 413 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
The biggest place to walk is Baytown Nature Center, 412 acres with 2.9 miles of trail.
| Baytown | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5.1% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Baytown Nature Center | 2.9 mi | 412 |
| 2. W. L. Jenkins Park | 2.5 mi | 98 |
| 3. Wayne Gray Sports Complex | 0.8 mi | 60 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
26% of Baytown adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Baytown beats the Texas average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 27% of Baytown adults worry about having enough food.
| Baytown | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 20% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 74% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 39% | 36% |
| What stands out | Baytown | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.4% | 6.1% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 27.2% | 19.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2,678 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 179 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 73% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 2,678 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Baytown.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 44.4°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 91.4°.
Baytown has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Baytown’s July high is 91°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Baytown home is worth about $244,000, down 0.9% in a year, 18% below the Texas typical home. 52% of households own their home in Baytown.
| Baytown | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 52% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,307 a month | $1,206 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Baytown has about as many jobs (31,018) as working residents, but only 6,098 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Baytown for work: only 18% work in town. Jobs based in Baytown grew to 31,018 in 2023, 1,934 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Houston (27%), Pasadena (5%) and Deer Park (4%).
| Baytown | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Work from home | 5.8% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Baytown. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi Stadium & arenaDaikin Park
Big draw27 mi Stadium & arenaReliant Stadium
7 mi LandmarkSan Jacinto Monument
24 mi Stadium & arenaToyota Center
26 mi MuseumRothko Chapel
23 mi Stadium & arenaShell Energy StadiumDaikin Park: Delaywaves, CC BY 3.0 · Reliant Stadium: User eschipul on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 · San Jacinto Monument: Tijuana Brass at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Toyota Center: Ed Uthman from Houston, TX, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Rothko Chapel: Unknown, Public domain · Shell Energy Stadium: HDFC PR, CC BY-SA 4.0
4 within 15 miles of the center of Baytown
About 5 of every 100 Baytown residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.
26 notable people were born in Baytown.
City in Texas, United States
Baytown is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Harris and Chambers counties. Located in the metropolitan statistical area of Greater Houston, it lies on the northern side of the Galveston Bay complex near the outlets of the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou. It is the sixth-largest city within this metropolitan area and seventh largest community (including The Woodlands CDP). Major highways serving the city include State Highway 99, State Highway 146 and Interstate 10. At the 2020 U.S. census, Baytown had a population of 83,701, and it had an estimated population of 84,324 in 2022.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Baytown.
Mont Belvieu next door grades higher for schools (A to Baytown’s C+) and lower for cost of living (D to C+).
| Town | TX rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baytown | #574 | D | C+ | D | C+ | C− |
| Beach City | #90 | B+ | C | — | A | B |
| Mont Belvieu | #178 | B− | D | C+ | A | B+ |
| Highlands | #291 | C | B | — | C+ | C |
| Houston | #606 | D− | C− | D− | C− | C+ |
Beach City and Highlands report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Baytown with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Baytown grades D overall, better than 5% of U.S. towns and #574 of 640 in Texas. It grades C− for health, D for safety and C+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 3 years of the area's median household income ($82,168 across the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
26 notable people were born here, including John Hagee and Bobby Fuller.
