MedinaTX
4,226 people call this town in Texas home.
Is Medina a good place to live?
A tough set of grades. Its weakest is health: on CDC estimates, its residents' health ranks in the bottom 2% nationally. With a D overall, Medina sits 469th of 640 in Texas. Set against the rest, it does better than just over a tenth of U.S. towns. It also trails on incomes (D−): the median household income is $22K, and 54% of residents live below the poverty line. On cost of living it is strong (A): a typical home costs about $369K, 9.4 years of the Zapata area’s $39K median household income. Only 59 of Texas’ 1,000 towns score higher on hazard risk. The town’s concentration of trails is 3.2 miles per square mile, above both the Texas town median (0.3) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4).
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenStreetMap.
What makes Medina stand out
Where Medina beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Typical home value
| Widest gap | Medina | TX |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing food insecurity | 52.9% | 19.3% |
96% of working residents leave Medina for work
Where Medina’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Medina grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Medina is from typical.
Its grades run from A for hazard risk (better than 92% of comparable towns) to D− for jobs and income (better than 1%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Medina: who provides what
Medina is unincorporated, so Zapata County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Medina.
Medina trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Texas (mostly cold waves), but it is a long drive from an emergency room.
0% of Medina is conserved land
Only 9 of the 579 Texas towns we compare have a higher concentration of trails than Medina. 5.7 miles of trail.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Medina’s schools rank behind 76% of Texas districts
Its one school is below. Public schools: Zapata County ISD. Medina’s only public school teaches 445 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fidel and Andrea R Villarreal ElLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 445 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
Medina stands out in Texas and nationally, with more of its adults who worry about having enough food
The nearest emergency room, Doctors Hospital of Laredo, is 44 miles away in a straight line. Against the 105 U.S. towns with household incomes like Medina’s, it is less healthy than 66%, so its D− isn’t only a matter of income.
47% of Medina adults have obesity. CDC measures, 31 in all: Medina beats Texas on 1 and trails on 21. Among adults here, 21% have diabetes and 22% report frequent physical distress. Only 3 of the 641 Texas towns we compare have a higher share of adults who get no exercise outside work than Medina.
| Medina | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 24% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 51% | 30% | 25% |
| What stands out | Medina | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.5% | 6.1% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 52.9% | 19.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Top of a very low hazard risk in Medina: cold waves
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 90% of Texas towns, with expected losses of about $234 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
One declared disaster, in 2021, has brought federal aid to Medina households. The town’s risk rating from FEMA stands at 14 of 100. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 77% come from cold waves and 15% from inland flooding.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
More of Medina’s residents live below the poverty line than in the typical Texas or U.S. town
Medina has 160 jobs for its 1,333 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Medina’s average commute comes in at 22 minutes. Commuting out is the norm in the town: 4% of working residents work locally. Also worth knowing: jobs in Medina grew by 132 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 160. The top destinations are Laredo (27%), Zapata (12%) and Falcon Lake Estates (7%).
| Medina | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 54% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $22,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.5% | 8.3% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
For cost of living, Medina earns an A
Homes are within reach (about $369K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 47 miles. At 9.4 years of the Zapata area’s $39K median household income, the typical home (about $369K) costs more against local pay than in 97% of Texas towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
Among 613 Texas towns, just 8 have a lower midpoint rent than Medina. Home values are down 5.1% over the year to September 2026.
| Medina | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $604 a month | $1,208 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 70% | 69% | 73% |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The climate in Medina brings mild winters and hot summers
The Zapata 1 S weather station records that about 172 days a year reach 90°, more than in 99% of U.S. towns. January nights average 47.3°, milder than in 98% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 99.1°.
It almost never snows. In Medina, the January low is 47°F. Only 7 of the 642 Texas towns we compare have a higher July high than Medina.
| Medina | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 99°F | 95°F | 85°F |
| January low | 47°F | 37°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Everything we know about Medina
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Medina; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 Medina residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.
About Medina
CDP in Texas, United States
Medina is a census-designated place (CDP) in Zapata County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,935 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 1.8 sq mi
- Elevation
- 397 ft
Medina’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Medina.
Medina and Zapata report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Medina with a neighbor →
Questions about Medina
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Medina, TX a good place to live?
Medina grades D overall, better than 12% of U.S. towns and #469 of 640 in Texas. It grades D− for health and C− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Medina, TX expensive?
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.