Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For a city of 269,515, Laredo does unevenly: it grades C−, 440th among Texas's 640 graded towns. Its schools rank ahead of 66% of Texas towns. The trade-offs: residents are less healthy than 83% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and homes are expensive, about $220K for a typical one and 3.5 times the Laredo metro’s $63K median household income. 76% of working residents work locally in Laredo, against 8.3% in Texas’ towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Laredo's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 99% of U.S. towns. Only 20 of Texas’ 1,000 towns score higher on history.
Where Laredo beats most towns.
San Augustin de Laredo Historic District| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Laredo College | 7,571 |
| Texas A & M International University | 6,681 |
Its founding year, 1755, comes before those of 99% of the Texas towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 708 in 1790, a low of 708 in 1790, 255,205 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1849 and 2 maps from 1965 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Laredo is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Laredo, 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 Laredo.
Laredo carries less natural-hazard risk than most of Texas (mostly inland flooding), has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and has seen reported crime fall beyond ordinary swings.
90 miles of trail in 73 parks and preserves. The trail density in Laredo is 0.8 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Lake Casa Blanca International State Park, 694 acres with 2.2 miles of trail.
| Laredo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.9% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lake Casa Blanca International State Park | 2.2 mi | 694 |
| 2. Paso Del Indio Nature Trail | 2 mi | 72 |
| 3. North Central Park | 1.4 mi | 118 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by United ISD. Three of its 92 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lamar MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,204 | C− |
| United H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 3,463 | B+ |
| J Kawas ElTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 363 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
32% of Laredo adults worry about having enough food. Laredo beats the Texas average on 2 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 36% of Laredo adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Laredo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 20% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 30% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 24% | 19% |
| What stands out | Laredo | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4% | 6.1% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 18.8% | 21.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 35.7% | 19.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 88% of Texas towns, with expected losses of about $145 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on. 151 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 21 properties have flooded more than once.
Laredo’s FEMA risk score is 17 of 100. Since 1981, 151 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Laredo.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Laredo home is worth about $220,000, up 2% in a year, 26% below the Texas typical home. 64% of households own their home in Laredo.
| Laredo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 64% | 69% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 55% | 50% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,030 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 4,598 to 3,794 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Laredo 2 weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 329 days, longer than in 96% of U.S. towns. The Laredo 2 weather station records that about 178 days a year reach 90°, more than in 99% of U.S. towns.
Among 642 Texas towns, just 6 have a higher July high than Laredo. Laredo has warm winters and hot summers, with very little rain.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Since 2013, Laredo has added 6,936 jobs, to 89,730 in 2023. The top destinations are San Antonio (4%), Houston (1%) and Austin (1%). Half commute less than 5 miles.
| Laredo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 21% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 5.9% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $64,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
2 within 15 miles of the center of Laredo
About 6 of every 100 Laredo residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.
2 colleges in town.
8 places in Laredo on the National Register of Historic Places.
30 notable people were born in Laredo.
City in Texas, United States
Laredo (English pronunciation: /ləˈɹeɪdoʊ/ ; Spanish pronunciation: [laˈɾeðo] ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Webb County, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Founded in 1755, Laredo grew from a village to the capital of the short-lived Republic of the Rio Grande to the largest inland port on the Mexican border. Laredo's economy is primarily based on international trade with Mexico, and as a major hub for three areas of transportation: land, rail, and air cargo. The city is on the southern end of I-35, which connects manufacturers in northern Mexico through Interstate 35 as a major r…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Laredo.
| Town | TX rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laredo | #440 | C− | C− | C | B+ | C− |
| Los Minerales | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Laredo Ranchettes | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| La Presa | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Los Corralitos | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tanquecitos South Acres | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Rio Bravo | #251 | C+ | A | — | B+ | D− |
| Los Altos | — | — | — | — | B+ | C+ |
Los Altos has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Rio Bravo and Los Altos report no FBI crime data of their own. Los Minerales, Laredo Ranchettes, La Presa, Los Corralitos and Tanquecitos South Acres aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Laredo with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Laredo grades C− overall, better than 15% of U.S. towns and #440 of 640 in Texas. It grades C− for health, C for safety and B+ for schools. Health 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−.
30 notable people were born here, including Tony Dalton and Tom DeLay.
