Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Odessa grades D− overall, 586th of 640 graded towns in Texas, mostly because of schools. Its schools rank behind 86% of the state's. In its favor, natural-hazard risk is low. 43% of working residents work locally in Odessa, above both the Texas town median (8.3%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Odessa is home to Odessa College. Odessa's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 93% of U.S. towns.
Where Odessa beats most towns.
2 colleges in town.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Odessa is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,407 in 1930, 114,428 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1928 and 3 maps from 1964 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Odessa, 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 Odessa.
Odessa has hotter summers than nearly all U.S. towns and has home values rising while Texas’s fall, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Its public schools are run by Ector County ISD. Three of its 55 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nimitz MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,310 | C+ |
| Permian H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 4,138 | C− |
| El Magnet at Reagan ElTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 685 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
22 miles of trail in 41 parks and preserves. UTPB Park, at 99 acres with 2.2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Odessa | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.7% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. UTPB Park | 2.2 mi | 99 |
| 2. Sherwood Park | 1.4 mi | 56 |
| 3. Comanche Trail West Park | 1 mi | 78 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Reported crimes fell from 2,437 to 1,731 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The violent crime rate in Odessa is 2.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Odessa | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.8 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.5 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Odessa beats the Texas average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 8. 25% of Odessa adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Odessa | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 74% | 79% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 20% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 24% | 19% |
| What stands out | Odessa | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.3% | 6.1% |
| More uninsured adults | 25.4% | 19.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
July afternoons average 95.4°, hotter than in 97% of U.S. towns; January nights average 31.3°.
Odessa has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. Odessa’s July high is 95°F. About 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Odessa | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 95°F | 95°F | 85°F |
| January low | 31°F | 37°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
16% of residents live below the poverty line in Odessa. Since 2013, Odessa has added 2,912 jobs, to 52,929 in 2023. 3.4% of workers work from home in Odessa.
| Odessa | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 3.4% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Values rose 3.9% in the past year while the Texas typical home fell 1.5%.
The typical Odessa home is worth about $250,000, 16% below the Texas typical home.
| Odessa | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 60% | 69% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 56% | 50% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,315 a month | $1,206 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
110 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 16 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 55% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 110 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Odessa.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Odessa. Close and well known come first.
17 mi MuseumPermian Basin Petroleum Museumin town MuseumPresidential Museum and Leadership Library17 mi MuseumMuseum of the SouthwestPermian Basin Petroleum Museum: Plazak, CC BY-SA 3.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Odessa
About 6 of every 100 Odessa residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.
99,940 counted in 2010 and 114,428 in 2020; an estimated 122,707 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 7.2% since 2020, after 14.5% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
37 notable people were born in Odessa.
City in Texas, United States
Odessa () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Ector County in West Texas, with portions extending into Midland County. The population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, making it the 34th-most populous city in Texas. It is the principal city of the Odessa metropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Ector County. The metropolitan area is also a component of the larger Midland–Odessa combined statistical area, which had 359,001 residents in 2020. The city is famous for being featured in the book Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, and the movie adaptation, Friday Night Lights. The University of Texas Permian Basin is located in the city and enrol…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Odessa.
| Town | TX rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odessa | #586 | D− | C− | C | D | C |
| West Odessa | #425 | C− | A | — | D | C− |
West Odessa reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Odessa with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Odessa grades D− overall, better than 4% of U.S. towns and #586 of 640 in Texas. It grades C for health, C for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
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−.
37 notable people were born here, including Chris Kyle and Karan Ashley.
