Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,809, settled in 1885.
Dilley gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $150K for a typical one, or 2.3 years of the county’s $66K median household income. It grades C overall, 292nd of 640 graded towns in Texas. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 87% of the country and its public schools trail 76% of Texas towns on state tests and graduation. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. 27% of the land in Dilley is conserved, against 1.9% in Texas’ towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. Dilley's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 97% of U.S. towns.
Where Dilley beats most towns.
3,894 counted in 2010 and 3,274 in 2020; an estimated 3,809 in 2025.
The decline has turned around: up 4.4% since 2020, after a 15.9% drop in the decade before.
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 Dilley is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for hazard risk (better than 95% of comparable towns) to D for health (better than 13%), so the C overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 929 in 1930, 3,274 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1942 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Dilley, 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 Dilley.
Dilley carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Texas (mostly cold waves), trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 99% of Texas towns; that rating is what its A+ for hazard risk is built on.
Dilley’s FEMA risk score is 4 of 100, below both the Texas town median (47 of 100) and the median of U.S. towns (44 of 100).
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by Dilley ISD. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dilley ElLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 402 | C− |
| Dilley H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 258 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
Homes are within reach (about $150K for the typical one, B for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 68 miles. At 2.3 years of the county’s $66K median household income, the typical home (about $150K) costs less against local pay than in 87% of Texas towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living.
The typical Dilley home is worth about $150,000, about the same as a year ago, 49% below the Texas typical home. 63% of households own their home in Dilley.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
68% of Dilley adults had a checkup this year. Dilley beats the Texas average on 2 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 37% of Dilley adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Dilley | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 68% | 74% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 24% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 30% | 25% |
| What stands out | Dilley | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4% | 6.1% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 18.7% | 21.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 37.4% | 19.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.0 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Dilley City Park | — | 14 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The average commute for its 1,087 working residents takes 19.6 minutes, against 26.7 across Texas.
Most working residents leave Dilley for work: only 13% work in town. Dilley’s average trip to work is 20 minutes. Since 2013, Dilley has lost 133 jobs, to 735 in 2023.
| Dilley | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 8.6% | 12% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 11.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 82% of Texas’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 40 to 10 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Dilley is 2 per 1,000 residents.
| Dilley | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.5 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Dilley weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 296 days, longer than in 95% of U.S. towns. The Dilley weather station records that about 140 days a year reach 90°, more than in 99% of U.S. towns.
Dilley has warm winters and hot summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 98°, January nights drop to 41° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
None within 15 miles of Dilley; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 Dilley residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.
Where Dilley’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in Texas, United States
Dilley is a town in Frio County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,274 at the 2020 census. It is located off Interstate 35, south of the county seat in Pearsall.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Dilley.
Hilltop isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Dilley with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Dilley grades C overall, better than 33% of U.S. towns and #292 of 640 in Texas. It grades D for health, B+ for safety and C− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.