Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Karnes City gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $205K, 3.4 years of the county’s $60K median household income. It grades C+ overall, ranked 270th of 640 in Texas. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its public schools trail 97% of Texas towns on state tests and graduation and residents are less healthy than 83% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. 30% of residents live below the poverty line in Karnes City, against 12% in Texas’ towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Panna Maria Historic District and John Ruckman House is on the National Register of Historic Places. Karnes City is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns.
Where Karnes City beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Karnes City El | 2–5 | 296 |
| Karnes City Pri | PK–1 | 206 |
| Karnes City J H | 6–8 | 234 |
Where Karnes City’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Karnes City is from typical.
Its grades run from A for cost of living (better than 89% of comparable towns) to D− for schools (better than 3%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 787 in 1920, 3,111 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2010 and 3 maps from 1956 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Karnes City, 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 Karnes City.
Karnes City trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, fares better on crime within Texas than nationally and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns.
Its public schools are run by Karnes City ISD. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karnes City ElLargest public elementary schoolGrades 2–5 | Grades 2–5 | 296 | D |
| Karnes City H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 281 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
29% of Karnes City adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Karnes City beats the Texas average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 37% of Karnes City adults get no exercise outside work.
| Karnes City | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 30% | 25% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 12% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 20% | 14% |
| What stands out | Karnes City | TX |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 29% | 19.1% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 26.7% | 19.3% |
| More adults in fair or poor health | 30.1% | 21.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The average commute for its 1,274 working residents takes 18.8 minutes, against 26.7 across Texas.
Most working residents leave Karnes City for work: only 8% work in town. Karnes City’s average trip to work is 19 minutes. Jobs based in Karnes City grew to 788 in 2023, 93 more than in 2013.
| Karnes City | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $55,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Homes are within reach (about $205K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 51 miles. The typical value, about $205K, is 28% below its January 2022 peak.
The typical Karnes City home is worth about $205,000, down 0.9% in a year, 31% below the Texas typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 11.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 84% of Texas’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 35 to 13 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Karnes City is 3 per 1,000 residents.
| Karnes City | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
January nights average 42.7°, milder than in 96% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 95.7°.
Karnes City has warm winters and hot summers. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Karnes City | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 43°F | 37°F | 22°F |
| July high | 96°F | 95°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 64% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Just 12 of its 1,500 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Karnes City itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Karnes City Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Karnes City; the nearest are
About 0 of every 100 Karnes City residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Texas.
4 notable people were born in Karnes City.
City in Texas, United States
Karnes City is a city in and the county seat of Karnes County, Texas, United States. Its population was 3,111 at the 2020 census, up from 3,042 at the 2010 census. The town was named after Henry Karnes of the Texas Revolution. Karnes is 24 miles (39 km) southeast of Floresville and 54 miles (87 km) southeast of San Antonio on U.S. Highway 181.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Karnes City grades C+ overall, better than 37% of U.S. towns and #270 of 640 in Texas. It grades C− for health, B+ for safety and D− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
4 notable people were born here, including Goldie Hill and David Crews.