Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Orange grades D− overall, 610th of 640 graded towns in Texas, mostly because of health and schools. Residents are less healthy than 87% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its public schools trail 76% of Texas towns on state tests and graduation. It also has a long history, with 5 places on the National Register. Only 44 of Texas’ 1,000 towns score lower on hazard risk. Orange is home to Lamar State College-Orange. On history, just 30 of Texas’ 1,000 towns do better.
Where Orange beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Orange is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Its founding year, 1830, comes before those of 98% of the Texas towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 936 in 1860, 19,324 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1888 and 3 maps from 1926 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Orange, 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 Orange.
Orange has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Texas (mostly hurricanes) and is a long drive from an emergency room.
The nearest emergency room, The Medical Center of Southeast Texas, is 20.1 miles away in a straight line.
46% of Orange adults sleep under 7 hours, above both Texas’ towns (39%) and U.S. towns (36%). 32% of adults get no exercise outside work in Orange. Orange beats the Texas average on 2 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 19.
| Orange | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 39% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 35% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 12% |
| What stands out | Orange | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 15% | 19.1% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 77.9% | 74.1% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.7% | 12.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Cypress ElLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 673 | B |
| Community Christian School PrivateLargest high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 67 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
In the comparison, Orange comes against 1.9% in Texas’ towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. 11 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Memorial Field Park, at 26 acres.
| Orange | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9.2% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Tony Houseman/Blue Elbow Swamp Wildlife Management Area | 0.5 mi | 935 |
| 2. Memorial Field Park | — | 26 |
| 3. Pinehurst City Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 2.8 years of the Beaumont metro’s $65K median household income, the typical home (about $182K) costs less against local pay than in 75% of Texas towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living. Values rose 4.5% in the past year while the Texas typical home fell 1.5%.
The typical Orange home is worth about $182,000, 39% below the Texas typical home. 59% of Orange households own their home.
| Orange | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,108 a month | $1,208 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 97% of Texas towns, with expected losses of about $423 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on. 1,555 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 191 properties have flooded more than once.
The FEMA risk score in Orange is 83 of 100. Since 1979, 1,555 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Orange.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Reported crimes fell from 384 to 268 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Orange’s violent crime rate is 4.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Orange | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.5 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 9.4 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
January nights average 42.4°, milder than in 95% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 91.4°. The Orange 9 N weather station, 7 miles away, records that about 74 days a year reach 90°: more than most of the country, but fewer than 95% of Texas places with climate records.
Orange has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Orange | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 42°F | 37°F | 22°F |
| July high | 91°F | 95°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Orange has about as many jobs (7,261) as working residents, but only 1,393 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Orange for work: only 19% work in town. Jobs based in Orange fell to 7,261 in 2023, 410 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Beaumont (14%), Houston (9%) and Port Arthur (6%).
| Orange | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 19% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Orange. Close and well known come first.
20 mi LandmarkSpindletop
17 mi National PreserveBig Thicket National Preserve228K visitors a yearin town MuseumStark Museum of Art20 mi MuseumSpindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum
in town GardenShangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center
21 mi MuseumEdison MuseumSpindletop: i_am_jim, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Big Thicket National Preserve: NPS, Public domain · Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum: i_am_jim, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Edison Museum: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Orange
About 4 of every 100 Orange residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Texas.
5 places in Orange on the National Register of Historic Places.
21 notable people were born in Orange.
City in Orange County, Texas, United States
Orange is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Texas, United States. The population was 19,324 at the 2020 census. It is the easternmost city in Texas, located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, and is 113 miles (182 km) from Houston. Orange is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area. Founded in 1836, it is a deep-water port to the Gulf of Mexico.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Orange.
| Town | TX rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | #610 | D− | C+ | C | C− | D |
| West Orange | #615 | D− | B+ | C− | D | D |
| Little Cypress | — | — | B+ | — | B− | C+ |
| Bridge City | #149 | B | C− | B+ | B+ | B |
Little Cypress has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Little Cypress reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Orange with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Orange grades D− overall, better than 3% of U.S. towns and #610 of 640 in Texas. It grades D for health, C for safety and C− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
21 notable people were born here, including Kay Panabaker and Bobby Kimball.
