Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Jacksonville grades D overall, 532nd among Texas's 640 graded towns, mostly because of health and incomes. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 87% of the country. The median household income is $51K, and 26% of residents live below the poverty line. In its favor, natural-hazard risk is low. 27% of residents live below the poverty line in Jacksonville, where Texas’ towns sit at 12% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Jacksonville is home to Jacksonville College-Main Campus.
Where Jacksonville beats most towns.
| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Jacksonville College-Main Campus | 355 |
| Baptist Missionary Association Theological Seminary | 15 |
Margo Martindale2 colleges in town.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Jacksonville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 349 in 1880, 13,997 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2009 and 2 maps from 1951 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Jacksonville, 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 Jacksonville.
Jacksonville is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has hotter summers than most of the country, though not than most of Texas; it also has poverty well above the Texas rate.
Against the 6,264 U.S. towns with household incomes like Jacksonville’s, it is less healthy than 71%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
25% of Jacksonville adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Jacksonville beats the Texas average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 19. 30% of Jacksonville adults worry about having enough food.
| Jacksonville | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 20% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 24% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 30% | 25% |
| What stands out | Jacksonville | TX |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 21.7% | 12.5% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 30.4% | 19.3% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 16.7% | 10.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by Jacksonville ISD. Two of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nichols IntLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–6 | Grades 5–6 | 674 | C+ |
| Jacksonville H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,270 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
The typical value, about $212K, is 8% below its October 2024 peak.
The typical Jacksonville home is worth about $212,000, up 0.6% in a year, 29% below the Texas typical home. The median rent in Jacksonville is $908 a month.
| Jacksonville | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 61% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $908 a month | $1,208 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Reported crimes fell from 379 to 129 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 73% of U.S. communities. Since 1985, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Jacksonville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
July afternoons average 93.1°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 85% of Texas places with climate records; January nights average 37.2°.
Jacksonville has mild winters and hot summers. Jacksonville’s July high is 93°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Jacksonville | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 93°F | 95°F | 85°F |
| January low | 37°F | 37°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
3.4 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Nichols' Green Park, at 140 acres.
| Jacksonville | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Nichols' Green Park | — | 140 |
| 2. Baseball and Soccer Complex | — | 52 |
| 3. Buckner Park | — | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
About one in 3 of Jacksonville’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Jacksonville fell to 7,283 in 2023, 1,231 fewer than in 2013. 5.9% of workers work from home in Jacksonville.
| Jacksonville | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 32% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 5.9% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
2 within 15 miles of the center of Jacksonville
About 4 of every 100 Jacksonville residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Texas.
3 places in Jacksonville on the National Register of Historic Places.
26 notable people were born in Jacksonville.
City in Texas, United States
Jacksonville is a city located in Cherokee County, Texas, United States. Its population was 13,997 at the 2020 U.S. census. It is the principal city of the Jacksonville micropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Cherokee County. Jacksonville is located in East Texas, north of the county seat, Rusk, and south of Tyler, in Smith County. Area production and shipping of tomatoes gained the town the title "Tomato Capital of the World". The impressive red iron ore rock Tomato Bowl, built by Works Progress Administration workers during the Great Depression, is home to the Jacksonville High School "Fightin' Indians" football and soccer teams. Annual events include the "Tops in Texas Rodeo…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Jacksonville grades D overall, better than 8% of U.S. towns and #532 of 640 in Texas. It grades D for health, C for safety and C+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 3.5 years of the area's median household income ($61,261 across the Jacksonville, TX area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
26 notable people were born here, including Margo Martindale and Lee Ann Womack.
