In Iola, the rent at the middle of the market is $735 a month, below both the Texas town median ($1,208 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). Among households in the town, 75% live in a home they own.

$500KZillow home value

	Iola	Texas towns	U.S. towns
Median rent	$735 a month	$1,208 a month	$1,185 a month
Households that own their home	75%	69%	73%

Typical home value

Iola$500K

Texas$296K

−0.7%

value change, 1 year

Full pageIola’s housing & cost-of-living pageOpen the page

Prices over the yearsDown 0.7% in a year Years of income to buyA typical home costs 10.0 years of income Rents$735 a month · Median rent

Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center

Schools

The schools Iola’s kids attend

Its two schools are below. The public schools here belong to Iola ISD. The largest public high school is Iola H S, with 315 students.

School	Level	Students	Letter
Iola ElLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5	Grades PK–5	311	A
Iola H SLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12	Grades 6–12	315	B

Full pageIola’s schools pageOpen the page

The districtsIOLA ISD Every school2 schools · Iola H S Questions“Are Iola’s schools good?”

NCES · EDFacts

Work & commute

Most of Iola’s workers commute out: the town has 0.2 jobs for each of them

The top destinations are Houston (17%), College Station (14%) and Bryan (12%). Most people who work leave Iola to do it: just 1% work in town. In Iola, the typical journey to work is 34 minutes, against 25 minutes in Texas’ towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Also worth knowing: this Texas town had 39 jobs in 2023, up 36 from 2013.

1%work in town

	Iola	Texas towns	U.S. towns
Average trip to work	34 minutes	25 minutes	25 minutes
Working residents who work in town	0.6%	8.3%	8%
Below the poverty line	8.3%	12%	9.6%

Where working residents work

In Iola1%

Houston17%

College Station14%

Bryan12%

Navasota4%

50 mi

median commute distance

jobs based in Iola

A commuter town

jobs vs. working residents

Full pageIola’s work & commute pageOpen the page

The jobs here39 jobs based here · A commuter town Where people work1% work in Iola Commute times34 minutes · The average commute How far they goHalf commute less than 50 miles

Census LEHD 2023 · ACS

Climate

Expect mild winters and hot summers in Iola

The typical July afternoon high for Iola comes to 95°F.

95°summer high

Typical low → high °F

Winter41–63°

Spring57–78°

Summer72–94°

Fall57–80°

Nov 11

typical first frost

Mar 16

typical last frost

+0.9°

vs. the 20th-century average

95°

typical summer high

Full pageIola’s climate pageOpen the page

A year of weatherJuly highs 95°, January lows 39°Rain & snow44″ of rain a year · Snow is almost unheard of Heating & coolingBoth heating and cooling Then and now+0.9° vs. the 20th century · Warmer than the 20th-century average

NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020

Natural hazards

Low risk in Iola, with hurricanes at the top

Federal aid has come to Iola households in 4 declared disasters; the latest was in 2021. Storm and flood damage is expected to run lower than in 66% of U.S. communities. Just over a quarter of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from hurricanes, followed by cold waves at 24%.

34risk score of 100

FEMA risk score

HurricanesCold wavesTornadoes

federal disasters paid out here

Full pageIola’s hazards pageOpen the page

What it facesLow risk Flood claims0 paid flood claims · No paid flood claims on record Past disasters4 federal disasters · Paid out in Iola Get ready0.1 events a year, on average · Ready for hurricanes

FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA

Health

How healthy Iola is

For adults in Iola, the share who say their health is fair or poor is 20%. This Texas town beats the Texas average on 9 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 7. In Iola, 77% of adults had a checkup this year, and 16% report frequent mental distress.

	Iola	Texas towns	U.S. towns
No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES)	12%	18%	8.1%
High blood pressure (CDC PLACES)	38%	35%	35%
Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES)	77%	74%	79%
Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES)	16%	18%	17%

31 measures vs. Texas

9 better15 too close to call7 worse

What stands out	Iola	TX
Fewer uninsured adults	11.9%	19.1%
Fewer adults facing food insecurity	14%	19.3%
More adults who have had cancer	9.6%	6.1%

Madison St. Joseph Health Center

15.4 mi away · emergency room

3 of 3

care shortages: primary care, dental, mental health

Full pageIola’s health reportOpen the page

Everyday habitsFewer adults who get no exercise Hospitals & doctors nearby15.4 miles to an ER · Madison St. Joseph Health Center How adults are doingMore adults in frequent physical distress Every CDC estimateBetter than TX on 9 of 31

CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA

Keep exploring

Everything we know about Iola

17pages on Iola

The big questions

Schools2 schools HealthBetter than TX on 9 of 31 CDC measures Cost of living$500K typical home · down 0.7% in a year Work & commute$50K median household income · 39 jobs here Natural hazardsFEMA risk higher than 34% of U.S. communities · hurricanes

Out and about

PlacesAttractions9 nearby · D. A. "Andy" Anderson Arboretum 18 mi LibraryBedias Public Library Colleges

The story

HistorySettled 1871 Town Hall & politicsClimate95° summer highs · 1″ of snow

Day to day

NewsWeatherHandbookZIP code 77861 Town SquareNeighbors

After high school

Colleges nearby

None within 15 miles of Iola; the nearest are

Texas A&M University-College StationUniversity or college · Public · College Station18.7 mi$13,154 in-state tuition Blinn College DistrictCommunity college · Public · Brenham46.7 mi$4,890 in-state tuition

About 7 of every 100 Iola residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.

Prices by family income, graduation and earnings →

A commuter town

99% of working residents leave Iola for work

Where Iola’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.

39jobs based in Iola

1%of working residents work in town

50 mimedian commute distance

Census LEHD 2023

About Iola

City in Texas, United States

Iola is a city in Grimes County, Texas, United States, on Farm to Market Road 39 and the Burlington-Rock Island Railroad, at the headwaters of Ragan Creek in northwestern Grimes County. As of the 2020 census the population was 311.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)

Established: 2007
Area: 1.0 sq mi
Elevation: 335 ft
ZIP code: 77861
Area code: 936

Questions about Iola

Short answers, built from the data on this page.

Is Iola, TX a good place to live?

Iola has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.

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Is Iola a good place to live?

354 people, and everyone knows the way

155 years in pictures

Moving to Iola: who provides what

The data

Zillow puts the typical Iola home at about $500K