Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Paris earns a D, 540th among Texas's 640 graded towns, mostly because of health and safety. Residents are less healthy than 93% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its police reported 104 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 88% of U.S. towns. One bright spot: 12% of its land is conserved. 47% of working residents work locally in Paris, above both Texas’ towns (8.3%) and U.S. towns (8%). Only 97 of Texas’ 999 towns score higher on walkability. Paris is home to Paris Junior College.
Where Paris beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Paris is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 3,980 in 1880, 24,476 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1893 and 2 maps from 1948 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Paris, 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 Paris.
Paris draws workers from Reno and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has hotter summers than most of the country, though not than most of Texas.
14,865 jobs are based in Paris, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 15.9 minutes, against 26.7 across Texas.
26% of Paris residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Paris has added 766 jobs, to 14,865 in 2023. Paris’ average trip to work is 16 minutes.
| Paris | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 26% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $47,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.8% | 9.7% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by Paris ISD. Three of its 17 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aikin ElLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 866 | B− |
| Paris H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 946 | A− |
| Chisum H STop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 334 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
Against the 4,740 U.S. towns with household incomes like Paris’s, it is less healthy than 78%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
17% of adults have diabetes in Paris. Paris beats the Texas average on 2 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 19. 43% of adults have high blood pressure in Paris.
| Paris | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 35% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 24% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Paris | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 16.5% | 19.1% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 78.5% | 74.1% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.5% | 5.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 780 to 610 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The violent crime rate in Paris is 4.1 per 1,000 residents. Paris reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 88% report less. The property crime rate in Paris is 20.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Paris | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.1 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 20.1 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The median property tax bill is $1,588, against $4,232 across Texas, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Paris home is worth about $171,000, about the same as a year ago, 42% below the Texas typical home.
| Paris | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 48% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $971 a month | $1,208 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
July afternoons average 93.5°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 78% of Texas places with climate records; January nights average 32.5°.
Paris has mild winters and hot summers, with plenty of rain.
| Paris | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 94°F | 95°F | 85°F |
| January low | 33°F | 37°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
103 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 16 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 66% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 103 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Paris.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
4.7 miles of trail in 24 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Paris Sports Complex, 105 acres with 1.5 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Paris Sports Complex | 1.5 mi | 105 |
| 2. Dragon Park | 1.2 mi | 45 |
| 3. Oak Park | 0.5 mi | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Paris
About 5 of every 100 Paris residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.
Where Paris’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 places in Paris on the National Register of Historic Places.
36 notable people were born in Paris.
City in the United States
Paris is a city in and the county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Paris.
Reno reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Paris with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Paris grades D overall, better than 8% of U.S. towns and #540 of 640 in Texas. It grades D for health, D for safety and B− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 2.9 years of the area's median household income ($59,020 across the Paris, TX area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
36 notable people were born here, including Shangela Laquifa Wadley and Blake Neely.
