El CenizoTX
A town of 2,457, incorporated in 1989.
Is El Cenizo a good place to live?
The best of El Cenizo’s subject grades is an A+ for cost of living; the weakest is a D− for walkability. 33% of residents live below the poverty line in El Cenizo, above both Texas’ towns (12%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). No town in Texas scores lower than El Cenizo on walkability. Residents are less healthy than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. El Cenizo's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 100% of U.S. towns. Only 75 of Texas’ 1,000 towns score lower on history. El Cenizo has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes El Cenizo stand out
Where El Cenizo beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
El Cenizo has shrunk 25% since 2010
3,273 counted in 2010 and 2,540 in 2020; an estimated 2,457 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
How El Cenizo grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far El Cenizo is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to El Cenizo: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in El Cenizo, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in El Cenizo.
El Cenizo stands out in Texas and nationally, with the median rent lower than most
The typical El Cenizo home is worth about $94,000, up 8.7% in a year, 68% below the Texas typical home. El Cenizo: 78% of households live in a home they own, where Texas’ towns sit at 69% and U.S. towns at 73%.
| El Cenizo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $628 a month | $1,208 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 78% | 69% | 73% |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Compared with most of Texas and the rest of the country, more of El Cenizo’s adults worry about having enough food
In El Cenizo, 18% of adults smoke cigarettes. Among 642 Texas towns, just 10 have a higher share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than El Cenizo. Two figures for adults here: 20% have diabetes, 21% report frequent physical distress. On the CDC’s 31 measures, El Cenizo is ahead of Texas on 1 and behind on 21.
| El Cenizo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 24% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 49% | 30% | 25% |
| What stands out | El Cenizo | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.7% | 6.1% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 47.8% | 19.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
About two in three of El Cenizo’s working residents commute to Laredo
The mean commuting time in El Cenizo is 36 minutes. Half of commuters travel less than 17 miles. The top destinations are Laredo (70%), San Antonio (4%) and Austin (2%).
| El Cenizo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 36 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $49,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
El Cenizo faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
On expected storm and flood damage, El Cenizo sits below 76% of U.S. communities. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid in 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2021. 47% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 21%.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Mild winters and hot summers in El Cenizo
July afternoons reach 100°, January nights drop to 45° and snow is almost unheard of.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Conservation land takes up 4.1% of El Cenizo
Walkers can cover 0.4 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. In El Cenizo, the density of trails is 0.8 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves here: 2, covering 20 acres.
| El Cenizo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.1% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. El Cenizo Park | 0.3 mi | 19 |
| 2. Gael Juarez Memorial Park | 0.1 mi | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about El Cenizo
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of El Cenizo
About 2 of every 100 El Cenizo residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Texas.
100% of working residents leave El Cenizo for work
Where El Cenizo’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About El Cenizo
City in Texas, United States
El Cenizo is a city in Webb County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,540 at the 2020 census. El Cenizo is the third-largest city in Webb County. It is located about 20 miles south of the county seat of Laredo.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 0.5 sq mi
- Elevation
- 449 ft
- Area code
- 806
Questions about El Cenizo
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is El Cenizo, TX expensive?
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+.