FrionaTX
A town of 4,051, established in 1898.
Is Friona a good place to live?
Friona's standout: it reports less crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades B, ranked 132nd of 640 in Texas. Natural-hazard risk is low. Friona’s average trip to work is 14 minutes, where Texas’ towns sit at 25 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Friona's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 88% of U.S. towns. Among 488 Texas towns, just 2 have a lower property crime rate than Friona.
What makes Friona stand out
Where Friona beats most towns.
How Friona grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Friona is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Friona: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Friona, 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 Friona.
Friona carries less natural-hazard risk than most of Texas (mostly drought), has homes that are cheap against local pay and has more 90° days than most of the country, though not than most of Texas.
Friona earns an A+ for safety
Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
The violent crime rate in Friona is 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
On state tests, Friona’s schools trail 67% of Texas districts
Its public schools are run by Friona ISD. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friona ElLargest public elementary schoolGrades 2–5 | Grades 2–5 | 283 | C |
| Friona H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 291 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
Friona’s typical home value is about $172K
At 2.5 years of the county’s $70K median household income, the typical home (about $172K) costs less against local pay than in 83% of Texas towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living. Values rose 14% in the past year while the Texas typical home fell 1.5%.
The typical Friona home is worth about $172,000, 42% below the Texas typical home. 80% of Friona households own their home.
| Friona | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 80% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,038 a month | $1,208 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Friona faces a very low natural-hazard risk, led by drought
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 90% of Texas towns; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
Friona’s FEMA risk score is 15 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
With 0.6 jobs for every working resident, most of Friona’s workers commute out
The average commute for its 1,584 working residents takes 13.8 minutes, against 26.7 across Texas.
About one in 5 of Friona’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Friona has lost 130 jobs, to 909 in 2023. The top destinations are Amarillo (6%), Hereford (2%) and Lubbock (2%).
| Friona | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 20% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 8.9% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $67,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
A typical January night in Friona is 23°F, against 37°F in Texas’ towns and 22°F across U.S. towns
The Friona weather station records that about 68 days a year reach 90°: more than most of the country, but fewer than 98% of Texas places with climate records. July afternoons average 91.7°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 95% of Texas places with climate records; January nights average 23.4°.
Among 642 Texas towns, just 8 have a lower January low than Friona. Friona has chilly winters and warm summers, with very little rain. About 13 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Friona | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 92°F | 95°F | 85°F |
| January low | 23°F | 37°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Residents of Friona are less healthy than 57% of U.S. towns
Friona beats the Texas average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 31% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Friona.
| Friona | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 74% | 79% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 22% | 23% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 30% | 25% |
| What stands out | Friona | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.3% | 6.1% |
| More uninsured adults | 30.5% | 19.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Reeve Field | — | 7 |
| 2. Friona adult softball field | — | 3 |
| 3. Friona City Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Friona
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Friona; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Friona residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Texas.
About Friona
City in Texas, United States
Friona is a city in Parmer County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,171 at the 2020 census. Friona was established as a small community in 1898 by XIT Ranch, originally called Frio, which is also the word for "cold" in Spanish. The community served as a shipping point for the Pecos and Northern Texas Railroads. In 1906, the George G. Wright Land CO. chose the community for a colonization project, promising settlers of fertile soil, and a healthful climate. The community then became known as Friona after the opening of a post office in March 16, 1907 and started to construct various buildings, which were a hotel, livery stable and a bank. Soon after, the first church in Friona was …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1906
- Area
- 1.4 sq mi
- Elevation
- 4,019 ft
- ZIP code
- 79035
- Area code
- 806
Questions about Friona
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Friona, TX a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Friona grades B overall, better than 59% of U.S. towns and #132 of 640 in Texas. It grades C+ for health, A+ for safety and C for schools.
Is Friona, TX expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.