Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,560, settled in 1877.
New Boston earns a D, 446th among Texas's 640 graded towns, mostly because of safety and incomes. It reports more crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns, including 25 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. The median household income is $64K, and 18% of residents live below the poverty line. One bright spot: homes are within reach, about $178K for a typical one, or 3.2 years of the Texarkana metro’s $56K median household income. New Boston’s property crime rate is 31.6 per 1,000 residents, above both Texas’ towns (10.7) and U.S. towns (9.9). Bowie County Jail is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where New Boston beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far New Boston is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 273 in 1870, 4,612 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 3 maps from 1909 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in New Boston, 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 New Boston.
New Boston trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has hotter summers than most of the country, though not than most of Texas.
The violent crime rate in New Boston is 5.5 per 1,000 residents. New Boston reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 92% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by New Boston ISD. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is New Boston H S, with 324 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crestview ElLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 544 | C+ |
| New Boston H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 324 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
Homes are within reach (about $178K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 21 miles. The typical value, about $178K, is 17% below its July 2022 peak.
New Boston’s median rent is $850 a month. The typical New Boston home is worth about $178,000, about the same as a year ago, 40% below the Texas typical home.
| New Boston | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $850 a month | $1,208 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 66% | 69% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
July afternoons average 92.6°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 89% of Texas places with climate records; January nights average 33.9°.
New Boston has mild winters and hot summers, with plenty of rain. About 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| New Boston | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 93°F | 95°F | 85°F |
| January low | 34°F | 37°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
People 65 and older are 21% of residents (13% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 34% of residents (38% statewide). 25% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 34% across Texas.
| New Boston | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 14% | 18% |
| Median age | 37.9 years | 35.8 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 25% | 23% | 29% |
55% women, 45% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.9 points. Across Texas, 50.1% of residents are women.
| New Boston | TX | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.2% | 13.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.1% | 11.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.2% | 9.7% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.7% | 14.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.4% | 14.1% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.4% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 5.7% | 11.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.2% | 8.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.1% | 5.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8% | 14% | 10.4% |
| High school | 37.8% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.7% | 20.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.2% | 7.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 14.8% | 21.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.5% | 12.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,600, single groups can be off by several points
Jobs based here fell from 3,404 in 2013 to 1,920.
Most working residents leave New Boston for work: only 16% work in town. 19% of New Boston residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, New Boston has lost 1,484 jobs, to 1,920 in 2023.
| New Boston | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $64,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 9,721 U.S. towns with household incomes like New Boston’s, it is healthier than 58%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income. Its widest gap with Texas is no health insurance: 12.4% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 19.1% statewide.
New Boston beats the Texas average on 2 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 41% of adults sleep under 7 hours in New Boston.
| New Boston | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 39% | 36% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | New Boston | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 12.4% | 19.1% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 77.6% | 74.1% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.5% | 5.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 58% of U.S. communities. Since 2001, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in New Boston.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0.2 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Tapp Park, at 41 acres.
| New Boston | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.9% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Tapp Park | — | 41 |
| 2. Scrapp Miller Park | — | 3 |
| 3. T&P Trailhead Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of New Boston; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 New Boston residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.
3 notable people were born in New Boston.
City in Texas, United States
New Boston is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. Boston was named for an early storekeeper in the settlement, W.J. Boston. The coming of the railroads led to the location of two more Bostons. A depot was built approximately 4 miles north of Boston and was named New Boston. The original Boston then became Old Boston. The courthouse was moved to Texarkana in the early 1880s, but a later election carried to move the courthouse back to the geographic center of the county. This location was between the Bostons. The Post Office Department named this location Boston, so Bowie County has claim to three Bostons: New Boston, Boston, and Old Boston. The population was 4,550 at the 2010 cens…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
New Boston grades D overall, better than 15% of U.S. towns and #446 of 640 in Texas. It grades C+ for health, D for safety and B− for schools. Safety 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 B+.
3 notable people were born here, including Jeff Gladney and LaMichael James.
