Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Palacios is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, 307th among Texas's 640 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is cost of living: homes are within reach, about $190K for a typical one, or 3.2 years of the Bay City area’s $59K median household income. Its lowest everyday mark is in incomes: the median household income is $53K, and 19% of residents live below the poverty line. Only 17 of Texas’ 1,000 towns score lower on hazard risk. Palacios is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. Palacios has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them R.J. Hill Building and Luther Hotel.
Where Palacios beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Price-Farwell HouseWhere Palacios’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Palacios is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 35 in 1870, 4,395 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1913 and 3 maps from 1952 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Palacios, 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 Palacios.
Palacios has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Texas (mostly hurricanes).
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 99% of Texas towns; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Palacios’ FEMA risk score is 87 of 100, above both Texas’ towns (47 of 100) and U.S. towns (44 of 100). Since 1979, 87 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Palacios.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by Palacios ISD. Its one school is below. The largest public high school is Palacios Junior Senior H S, with 655 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palacios Junior Senior H SLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 655 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
The typical value, about $190K, is 9% below its July 2022 peak. 89.6% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 51.7% across Texas.
Palacios’ median rent is $785 a month, below both the Texas town median ($1,208 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). 84% of households own their home in Palacios. The typical Palacios home is worth about $190,000, down 1.2% in a year, 36% below the Texas typical home.
| Palacios | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 84% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $785 a month | $1,208 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Jobs based here fell from 735 in 2013 to 467.
Most working residents leave Palacios for work: only 11% work in town. Jobs based in Palacios fell to 467 in 2023, 268 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Houston (15%), Bay City (5%) and Point Comfort (4%).
| Palacios | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $53,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 8.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| Palacios | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Palacious Bay Beach | — | 9 |
| 2. City Park | 0.2 mi | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Reported crimes fell from 87 to 56 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The violent crime rate in Palacios is 2.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Palacios | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.5 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 10.3 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Pt Comfort weather station, 20 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 321 days, longer than in 96% of U.S. towns. January nights average 46.2°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 90°.
Palacios’ January low is 46°F. Palacios has warm winters and warm summers. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Palacios | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 46°F | 37°F | 22°F |
| July high | 90°F | 95°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 6,675 U.S. towns with household incomes like Palacios’s, it is healthier than 71%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Palacios beats the Texas average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 26% of Palacios adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Palacios | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 20% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 30% | 25% |
| What stands out | Palacios | TX |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 25.5% | 19.1% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 25% | 19.3% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15.8% | 12.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of Palacios; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Palacios residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Texas.
4 places in Palacios on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Palacios.
City in Texas, United States
Palacios ( pə-LASH-əs) is a city in Matagorda County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,395 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Palacios grades C overall, better than 30% of U.S. towns and #307 of 640 in Texas. It grades C+ for health, C for safety and B− 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 B.
3 notable people were born here, including Daniel E. Flores and Priscilla Richman.
