Austin, the state capital · Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0How Texas stacks up
Only two states grew faster between 2010 and 2020: in Texas, the population grew 15.9%. Its strength is strong schools; its weak spots, a renters’ market (63% of homes owner-occupied) and $4,232 property-tax bills (36% above the national figure). Put together, the eight subjects come to a C, 38th in the country.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
25th of 51B−52/100 About average for crime. The FBI’s 2025 estimate puts violent crime at 349 per 100,000 residents, the 21st highest rate of the 50 states and D.C. Big places drag it down: Houston and San Antonio rank in the national bottom quarter. No neighbor beats it on safety; Oklahoma comes closest.
Counting property crime too (property + 4 × violent, the weighting our town grades use): 16th highest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Measure: reported crime per resident over the engine’s three crime years (property + 4 × violent), as in our Safety grades. 249 Texas towns of 10,000+ against 3,410 nationally.
Crime gathers in the larger cities
In Katy and Live Oak, property crime rather than violence puts them in the quarter reporting the most crime; violent crime there is below the national middle. Its safest larger towns are Trophy Club (#87), Fulshear (#113) and Melissa (#142), ranked against every U.S. town of 10,000+. At the other end are Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin, in the quarter of U.S. towns reporting the most crime per resident.
| State | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 42% | 0% | |
| Rhode Island | 37% | 0% | |
| New Jersey | 35% | 20% | |
| Pennsylvania | 29% | 37% | |
| Maine | 29% | 15% | |
| Texas | 7% | 50% |
Places without a police force of their own
Each town’s figure is built from its own department’s FBI reports, so towns with gaps sit out rather than being estimated. Here the towns counted hold 96% of residents of towns of 10,000+. Temple, Belton, Bonham and one more are missing too many years to count. In The Woodlands, Atascocita, Spring and 26 other places, county or state police answer the calls, so there is no town figure. Next door, coverage runs from 40% in Louisiana to 100% in Oklahoma.
Schools
16th of 51B+70/100 Better schools than most states. Among its neighbors it does best on schools, with Arkansas second. 30% of its 4th and 8th graders reach Proficient on the Nation’s Report Card, against 31% nationally (18th lowest). 15% of residents live in a top-quarter town, 31% in a bottom-quarter one; Southlake ranks highest.
In the class of 2023, 90.3% graduated on time, 5th highest; graduation counts as much as test results in the grade.
Spending: $12,815 per pupil, 6th lowest. Shown for context, not graded.
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 282 Texas towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally.
Cost of living
39th of 51C−24/100 Costs run high. The typical homeowner pays $4,232 a year in property tax, 36% above the national figure. High taxes, but homes cost only 3.6 times income (20th lowest). It trails all of its neighbors on affordability.
A typical home costs 3.6 years of median household income, 20th lowest.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 282 Texas towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
37th of 51C28/100 Health trails most states. Among its neighbors it does best on health, with Oklahoma second. Texas ranks 11th highest for adults in fair or poor health, at 22%. Its towns mostly sit mid-table; West University Place ranks highest, at #39.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 281 Texas towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally.
Housing
44th of 51D14/100 More renters than most states. Texas ranks 6th lowest for home ownership, at 63% of homes. Heath ranks #8 of 5,235 U.S. towns for home ownership. 56% of residents live in bottom-quarter towns, among them Houston and San Antonio.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 282 Texas towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
24th of 51B−54/100 Middle of the pack on hazards. No neighbor beats it on hazard risk; New Mexico comes closest. FEMA expects $134 of damage a year for every $100,000 of buildings, 13% below the national figure (23rd lowest). Expect inland flooding above all; it makes up 60% of FEMA’s estimate.
Federal major-disaster declarations, 2015–2025: 18, 9th most.
Share of expected building damage: inland flooding 60%, hurricane 16%, hail 11%.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 282 Texas towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
38th of 51C26/100 Longer commutes than most states. Workers spend 26.7 minutes getting to work, the 12th longest commute among the states. It trails all of its neighbors on commute times. Commutes stretch longest from Garland.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 282 Texas towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
9th of 51A−84/100 Growing with few exceptions. Between 2010 and 2020 it grew 15.9%, the 3rd fastest change among the states. Almost no one here lives in a bottom-quarter town; Iowa Colony and Prosper are typical. Fulshear ranks #2 of 5,079 U.S. towns for growth.
Builders took out permits for 8.1 homes per 1,000 residents in 2025, 6th most.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 274 Texas towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally.
How Texas compares to its neighbors
Next to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, it comes out ahead on safety, schools and health and behind on cost of living and the commute.
| Texas | New Mexico | Oklahoma | Arkansas | Louisiana | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | C 2638th of 51 | D 1245th of 51 | D 1444th of 51 | C− 2439th of 51 | D 847th of 51 |
| Safety | B− 5231st official · 7% in top towns | D− 449th official · 0% in top towns | C− 2039th official · 3% in top towns | C− 1848th official · 5% in top towns | D 645th official · 0% in top towns |
| Schools | B+ 7034th official · 15% in top towns | D 651st official · 1% in top towns | D− 350th official · 0% in top towns | B− 5046th official · 9% in top towns | C 2636th official · 3% in top towns |
| Cost of living | C− 2440th official · 4% in top towns | B+ 7211th official · 21% in top towns | A− 829th official · 29% in top towns | A+ 963rd official · 60% in top towns | A− 804th official · 17% in top towns |
| Health | C 2841st official · 15% in top towns | D 647th official · 1% in top towns | D 1440th official · 4% in top towns | D− 348th official · 0% in top towns | D− 348th official · 0% in top towns |
| Housing | D 1446th official · 7% in top towns | B+ 6615th official · 10% in top towns | D 1238th official · 1% in top towns | C− 1636th official · 3% in top towns | B− 5225th official · 9% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | B− 5423rd official · 10% in top towns | B− 5035th official · 20% in top towns | C− 2237th official · <1% in top towns | D 842nd official · 0% in top towns | D 1448th official · 6% in top towns |
| Commute | C 2640th official · 16% in top towns | B+ 6617th official · 35% in top towns | A− 7612th official · 41% in top towns | A− 8413th official · 76% in top towns | B− 5032nd official · 45% in top towns |
| Growth | A− 843rd official · 40% in top towns | B− 4639th official · 34% in top towns | B 6427th official · 52% in top towns | B− 5036th official · 40% in top towns | C− 2442nd official · 13% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work