Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Rusk gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $210K, 3.4 years of the Jacksonville area’s $61K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 245th among Texas's 640 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 82% of the country, and the median household income is $53K, and 8% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. 14% of residents are under 18 in Rusk, against 26% in Texas’ towns and 22% across U.S. towns. Only 88 of Texas’ 1,000 towns score higher on history. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 75% of U.S. towns.
Where Rusk beats most towns.
James I. and Myrta Blake Perkins HouseWhere Rusk’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 Rusk is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 355 in 1850, a low of 355 in 1850, 5,285 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2009 and 2 maps from 1943 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rusk, 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 Rusk.
Rusk trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, draws workers from Jacksonville and beyond and fares better on crime within Texas than nationally.
2,544 jobs are based in Rusk, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 5 of Rusk’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Rusk fell to 2,544 in 2023, 211 fewer than in 2013. 8.5% of Rusk residents live below the poverty line.
| Rusk | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $53,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 8.5% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by Rusk ISD. Three of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Rusk H S, with 621 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rusk J HLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 458 | B |
| Rusk H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 621 | B+ |
| Rusk ElTop results in townGrades 2–3 | Grades 2–3 | 298 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
Against the 6,929 U.S. towns with household incomes like Rusk’s, it is less healthy than 63%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
21% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Rusk. Rusk beats the Texas average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 19% of adults smoke cigarettes in Rusk.
| Rusk | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 74% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 24% | 19% |
| What stands out | Rusk | TX |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 19.1% | 12.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 8% | 5.7% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 13.3% | 10.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 77% of U.S. communities. Since 1999, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Rusk.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Homes are within reach (about $210K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 35 miles. The typical value, about $210K, is 9% below its December 2024 peak.
The typical Rusk home is worth about $210,000, down 2.6% in a year, 29% below the Texas typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1.9 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. The biggest park or preserve is Texas State Railroad - Rusk Depot, at 117 acres.
| Rusk | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 7.9% | 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. Texas State Railroad - Rusk Depot | — | 117 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Rusk weather station records that about 69 days a year reach 90°: more than most of the country, but fewer than 98% of Texas places with climate records. July afternoons average 92.7°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 88% of Texas places with climate records; January nights average 38°.
Rusk has mild winters and hot summers, with plenty of rain. The January low in Rusk is 38°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Rusk | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 38°F | 37°F | 22°F |
| July high | 93°F | 95°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 16.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 67% of Texas’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 97 to 37 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
2 within 15 miles of the center of Rusk
About 4 of every 100 Rusk residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Texas.
8 notable people were born in Rusk.
City in and county seat of Cherokee County, Texas, United States
Rusk is a city in and the county seat of Cherokee County, Texas, United States. At the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 5,285.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Rusk grades C+ overall, better than 40% of U.S. towns and #245 of 640 in Texas. It grades C− for health, B− for safety and B for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
8 notable people were born here, including Thomas Mitchell Campbell and Nancy Stephens.