Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Hillsboro is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 394th of 640 graded towns in Texas, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools rank ahead of 60% of Texas towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in health: CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 77% of the country. A typical home there costs about $203K, 3.1 years of the county’s $65K median household income. Its National Register listings include Hill County Courthouse and Missouri-Kansas-Texas Company Railroad Station. 20% of residents live below the poverty line in Hillsboro, where Texas’ towns sit at 12% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Hillsboro is home to Hill College.
Where Hillsboro beats most towns.
Hill County Courthouse| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Hill College | 2,836 |
Census counts: 153 in 1870, 8,221 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1890 and 2 maps from 1891 on.
14 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Hillsboro is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hillsboro, 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 Hillsboro.
Hillsboro is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has hotter summers than nearly all U.S. towns and trades workers with Dallas and other neighbors.
4.8 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Aquilla Wildlife Management Area, at 67 acres.
| Hillsboro | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.2% | 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. Hillsboro City Park | 1 mi | 21 |
| 2. Aquilla Wildlife Management Area | — | 67 |
| 3. Wallace Park | — | 56 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Hillsboro ISD. Two of its 17 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsboro ElLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 649 | – |
| Hillsboro H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 616 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
Against the 7,748 U.S. towns with household incomes like Hillsboro’s, it is less healthy than 58%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
24% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Hillsboro. Hillsboro beats the Texas average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 42% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Hillsboro.
| Hillsboro | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 39% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 30% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 24% | 19% |
| What stands out | Hillsboro | TX |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 7.3% | 5.7% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15.7% | 12.5% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 4% | 3.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
54% of Hillsboro households own their home. The typical Hillsboro home is worth about $203,000, down 1.2% in a year, 31% below the Texas typical home. Hillsboro’s median rent is $980 a month.
| Hillsboro | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $980 a month | $1,208 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 71% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Reported crimes fell from 216 to 168 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Hillsboro is 17 per 1,000 residents.
| Hillsboro | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 17 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.5 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
July afternoons average 95.1°, hotter than in 96% of U.S. towns; January nights average 36.3°.
Hillsboro has mild winters and hot summers. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Hillsboro | 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
Hillsboro has about as many jobs (3,752) as working residents, but only 810 people both live and work here.
About one in 5 of Hillsboro’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Hillsboro fell to 3,752 in 2023, 808 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Dallas (7%), Waco (5%) and Fort Worth (5%).
| Hillsboro | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 3.2% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Median household income | $56,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1 within 15 miles of the center of Hillsboro
About 7 of every 100 Hillsboro residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.
14 places in Hillsboro on the National Register of Historic Places.
25 notable people were born in Hillsboro.
City in Texas, United States
Hillsboro is a city in and the county seat of Hill County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, Hillsboro had a population of 8,221. It is located between Dallas, Fort Worth and Waco, directly on Interstate 35 in North Central Texas. Hillsboro draws trade from throughout the county, and from Interstate 35 travelers between Dallas, Fort Worth, and Waco. Hillsboro is the gateway to Lake Whitney, Lake Whitney State Park, and nearby Lake Aquilla - all within a 15 minute drive from Hillsboro, Texas.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hillsboro grades C− overall, better than 19% of U.S. towns and #394 of 640 in Texas. It grades C− for health, C for safety and B for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
25 notable people were born here, including Rafer Johnson and Madge Bellamy.
