Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Garland is a city of 249,625, and it grades C− overall, ranked 379th of 640 in Texas. The median household earns $76K. The trade-off: the typical home is worth about $280K, 3.1 years of the Dallas metro’s $90K median household income. Garland's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 97% of U.S. towns. Garland is home to Amberton University. Garland’s median rent is $1,641 a month, above both the Texas town median ($1,206 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month).
Where Garland beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Garland is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 478 in 1890, 246,018 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 3 maps from 1959 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Garland. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaCotton Bowl
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaAT&T Stadium
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaTexas Stadium
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaGlobe Life Field
28 mi Theme parkSix Flags Over Texas
10 mi Stadium & arenaGerald J. Ford StadiumCotton Bowl: Robbiewest88, Public domain · AT&T Stadium: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Texas Stadium: Allspamme, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Globe Life Field: Drone To Fly, CC BY 3.0 · Six Flags Over Texas: Chris Hagerman from New Port Richey, FL, US, CC BY 2.0 · Gerald J. Ford Stadium: Jmcstrav, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Garland, 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 Garland.
Garland has hotter summers than nearly all U.S. towns and has home values still below their peak, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
23 miles of trail in 55 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Duck Creek Greenbelt, at 194 acres.
| Garland | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9.1% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lee F. Jackson Spring Creek Park Preserve | 2.4 mi | 83 |
| 2. Spring Creek Forest Preserve Park | 1.5 mi | 34 |
| 3. Spring Creek Greenbelt - Fred E. Harris Section | 1.1 mi | 56 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Garland ISD. Three of its 72 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson Technology CenterLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,157 | B |
| N Garland H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,929 | B+ |
| Kimberlin Acad for ExcelTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 474 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Garland for work: only 13% work in town. Garland’s average trip to work is 30 minutes. Since 2013, Garland has added 4,332 jobs, to 72,317 in 2023.
| Garland | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 12% | 9.6% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes fell from 6,280 to 4,641 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Garland is 16.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Garland | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 16.6 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.9 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
July afternoons average 94.9°, hotter than in 96% of U.S. towns; January nights average 35.6°.
Garland has mild winters and hot summers. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Garland | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 95°F | 95°F | 85°F |
| January low | 36°F | 37°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Texas average. 25% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 34% across Texas.
| Garland | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 14% | 18% |
| Median age | 35 years | 35.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 26% | 26% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 25% | 23% | 29% |
50.6% women, 49.4% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±0.7 points. Across Texas, 50.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 35.9, men 33.7.
| Garland | TX | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.6% | 13.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.9% | 11.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.8% | 9.7% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.7% | 14.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.8% | 14.1% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.9% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.6% | 11.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8% | 8.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.6% | 5.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 21.1% | 14% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.1% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.7% | 20.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.6% | 7.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17% | 21.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.4% | 12.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Garland beats the Texas average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 23% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Garland.
| Garland | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 22% | 23% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 30% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 20% | 14% |
| What stands out | Garland | TX |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 22.6% | 19.1% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 22.7% | 19.3% |
| More adults who get no exercise | 32.3% | 27.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
384 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 50 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 58% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 384 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Garland.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical value, about $281K, is 9% below its May 2024 peak.
The typical Garland home is worth about $281,000, down 2.9% in a year, 5% below the Texas typical home. 62% of Garland households own their home.
| Garland | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 62% | 69% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 58% | 50% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
19 within 15 miles of the center of Garland
About 5 of every 100 Garland residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.
Where Garland’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
47 notable people were born in Garland.
City in Texas, United States
Garland is a city in Dallas County, Texas, with portions extending into Collin and Rockwall counties. It is northeast of Dallas and is a part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. In 2020, it had a population of 246,018, making it the 93rd-most-populous city in the United States and the 13th-most-populous city in Texas. Garland is the third largest city in Dallas County by population and has access to downtown Dallas via public transportation including two DART Blue Line stations and buses.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Garland.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Garland grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #379 of 640 in Texas. It grades C+ for health, C for safety and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
47 notable people were born here, including Caleb Landry Jones and Crystal Bernard.
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