Is Rancho Viejo a good place to live?
Rancho Viejo grades B− overall, ranked 208th of 640 in Texas, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 85% of U.S. towns. On the other side, homes are expensive, about $295K for a typical one and 5.6 times the Brownsville metro’s $53K median household income. 60% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Rancho Viejo, above both Texas’ towns (23%) and U.S. towns (29%). Only 76 of Texas’ 1,000 towns score lower on hazard risk. Rancho Viejo's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 91% of U.S. towns.
What makes Rancho Viejo stand out
Where Rancho Viejo beats most towns.
Rancho Viejo has grown 17% since 2010
2,437 counted in 2010 and 2,838 in 2020; an estimated 2,851 in 2025.
Growth has leveled off: within 1% of 2020, after 16.5% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
How Rancho Viejo grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Rancho Viejo is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Rancho Viejo: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rancho Viejo, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Rancho Viejo.
Rancho Viejo has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and has home values rising while Texas’s fall, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Texas (mostly hurricanes).
Rancho Viejo has set aside 0% of its land for conservation
Just 0 of its 1,472 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Rancho Viejo itself; its outdoors grade is D.
1.7 miles of trail in 0 parks and preserves. The trail density in Rancho Viejo is 0.7 miles per square mile.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Rancho Viejo earns an A for safety
Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
Rancho Viejo’s property crime rate is 2.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Rancho Viejo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.1 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
About two in five of Rancho Viejo’s working residents commute to Brownsville
Rancho Viejo has 220 jobs for its 1,043 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Rancho Viejo for work: only 3% work in town. 6.4% of residents live below the poverty line in Rancho Viejo. Since 2013, Rancho Viejo has added 28 jobs, to 220 in 2023.
| Rancho Viejo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 6.4% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $91,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.8% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Rancho Viejo faces a high natural-hazard risk, led by hurricanes
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 92% of Texas towns, with expected losses of about $704 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1996, 7 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Rancho Viejo.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Rancho Viejo stands out in Texas and nationally, with a typical January night milder than most
The Brownsville weather station, 12 miles away, records that about 141 days a year reach 90°, more than in 99% of U.S. towns. January nights average 51.4°, milder than in 99% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 94.9°.
Among 642 Texas towns, just 6 have a higher January low than Rancho Viejo. Rancho Viejo has warm winters and hot summers. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Rancho Viejo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 51°F | 37°F | 22°F |
| July high | 95°F | 95°F | 85°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Compared with most of Texas and the rest of the country, fewer of Rancho Viejo’s adults have been diagnosed with depression
17% of Rancho Viejo adults have been diagnosed with depression. Rancho Viejo beats the Texas average on 10 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 16% of Rancho Viejo adults have diabetes.
| Rancho Viejo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 18% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 22% | 23% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.6% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Rancho Viejo | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer smokers | 8.6% | 12.5% |
| Fewer adults in frequent mental distress | 12.6% | 16.9% |
| More adults with diabetes | 15.5% | 12.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Rancho Viejo earns a D for cost of living
Values rose 4.2% in the past year while the Texas typical home fell 1.5%. Home values rose 27% in five years, to about $295K, against 10% across Texas.
Typical home values rose 4.2% in the year to September 2026.
| Rancho Viejo | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,392 a month | $1,206 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 66% | 69% | 73% |
Typical home value
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Starbase and 5 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rancho Viejo. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi Park & preserveStarbase
11 mi LandmarkFort Brown
9 mi Zoo & aquariumGladys Porter Zoo
5 mi National Historical ParkPalo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park169K visitors a year40 mi Stadium & arenaRobert and Janet Vackar Stadium
39 mi National SeashorePadre Island National Seashore573K visitors a yearPhoto credits
Starbase: Jared Krahn, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fort Brown: Pi3.124, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gladys Porter Zoo: Jc161991, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park: Schmorleitz, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Padre Island National Seashore: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
Everything we know about Rancho Viejo
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Rancho Viejo
About 6 of every 100 Rancho Viejo residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.
97% of working residents leave Rancho Viejo for work
Where Rancho Viejo’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Rancho Viejo
Town in Texas, United States
Rancho Viejo is a town in Cameron County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,838 at the 2020 census, up from 2,437 at the 2010 census. The town is named from a ranch in that area named "Rancho Viejo" (Old Ranch). This ranch was owned by Blas María de la Garza Falcón, whose name was given to a nearby dam, Falcon Dam. Rancho Viejo may be included as part of the Brownsville–Harlingen–Raymondville and the Matamoros–Brownsville metropolitan areas.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 2.2 sq mi
- Elevation
- 30 ft
- Area code
- 956
Rancho Viejo’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Rancho Viejo.
| Town | TX rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rancho Viejo | #208 | B− | D | A | B | B |
| Olmito | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Olmito isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Rancho Viejo with a neighbor →
Questions about Rancho Viejo
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Rancho Viejo, TX a good place to live?
Rancho Viejo grades B− overall, better than 46% of U.S. towns and #208 of 640 in Texas. It grades B for health, A for safety and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Rancho Viejo, TX expensive?
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.