Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Big Spring earns a D, ranked 494th of 640 in Texas, mostly because of safety and health. Its crime rate is higher than 93% of U.S. towns, with 186 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 85% of the country. What it does well: natural-hazard risk is low. Big Spring’s violent crime rate is 8.6 per 1,000 residents, above both the Texas town median (1.9) and the median of U.S. towns (1.6). Big Spring is home to Howard College.
Where Big Spring beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
2 colleges in town.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Big Spring is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,158 in 1890, 26,144 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1930 and a map from 1986 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Big Spring, 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 Big Spring.
Big Spring trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Texas (mostly inland flooding), but it reports violent crime at about twice the Texas rate.
Violent crime runs at 8.6 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Texas rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D.
The property crime rate in Big Spring is 24.2 per 1,000 residents. Big Spring reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 93% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by Big Spring ISD. Two of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Spring IntLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–6 | Grades 5–6 | 522 | C |
| Big Spring H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 982 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
Homes are within reach (about $141K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 39 miles. At 2 years of the Big Spring area’s $70K median household income, the typical home (about $141K) costs less against local pay than in 92% of Texas towns; that ratio is one input to its B+ for cost of living.
The typical Big Spring home is worth about $141,000, up 4.5% in a year, 53% below the Texas typical home. 65% of households own their home in Big Spring.
| Big Spring | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 65% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,050 a month | $1,208 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
29% of Big Spring adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Big Spring beats the Texas average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 71% of Big Spring adults had a checkup this year.
| Big Spring | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 74% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 24% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 30% | 25% |
| What stands out | Big Spring | TX |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 28.9% | 19.1% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.4% | 12.5% |
| More smokers | 16.5% | 12.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 90% of Texas towns, with expected losses of about $341 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
Big Spring’s FEMA risk score is 14 of 100. Since 1986, 23 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Big Spring.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Jobs based here fell from 9,235 in 2013 to 7,313.
About one in 3 of Big Spring’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Big Spring fell to 7,313 in 2023, 1,922 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Midland (10%), Odessa (5%) and San Angelo (3%).
| Big Spring | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 31% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
6.2 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Big Spring State Park, at 364 acres.
| Big Spring | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 7.4% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Comanche Trail Park | 1.2 mi | 109 |
| 2. Big Spring State Park | 0.7 mi | 364 |
| 3. Roy Anderson Sports Complex | 0.3 mi | 60 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Big Spring weather station records that about 115 days a year reach 90°, more than in 97% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 94.7°, hotter than in 96% of U.S. towns; January nights average 32.5°.
Big Spring has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. About 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Big Spring | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 95°F | 95°F | 85°F |
| January low | 33°F | 37°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
2 within 15 miles of the center of Big Spring
About 5 of every 100 Big Spring residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.
6 places in Big Spring on the National Register of Historic Places.
26 notable people were born in Big Spring.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Big Spring grades D overall, better than 10% of U.S. towns and #494 of 640 in Texas. It grades C− for health, D for safety and C for schools. Safety 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 B+.
26 notable people were born here, including Betty Buckley and Dave O'Brien.
