Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 13,913, settled in 1983.
Santa Fe is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B− overall, 196th of 640 graded towns in Texas, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is safety: it reports less crime per resident than 71% of U.S. towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: homes are expensive, about $334K for a typical one and 4.1 times the Houston metro’s $82K median household income. Santa Fe’s January low is 45°F, where Texas’ towns sit at 37°F and U.S. towns at 22°F. Christensen Castle is on the National Register of Historic Places. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 72% of U.S. towns.
Where Santa Fe beats most towns.
Where Santa Fe’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 Santa Fe is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 6,172 in 1980, 12,735 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2007 and 4 maps from 1929 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Santa Fe. Close and well known come first.
Big draw28 mi Stadium & arenaReliant Stadium
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaDaikin Park
30 mi Stadium & arenaToyota Center
11 mi MuseumSpace Center Houston
30 mi MuseumRothko Chapel
25 mi LandmarkSan Jacinto MonumentReliant Stadium: User eschipul on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Daikin Park: Delaywaves, CC BY 3.0 · Toyota Center: Ed Uthman from Houston, TX, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Space Center Houston: Shujianyang, CC BY 4.0 · Rothko Chapel: Unknown, Public domain · San Jacinto Monument: Tijuana Brass at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Santa Fe, 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 Santa Fe.
Santa Fe has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and fares better on crime within Texas than nationally, but it has little public open land.
Jobs based here grew from 1,747 in 2013 to 2,403.
Most working residents leave Santa Fe for work: only 6% work in town. Santa Fe’s median household income is $99,000. Jobs based in Santa Fe grew to 2,403 in 2023, 656 more than in 2013.
| Santa Fe | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $99,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.5% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.6% | 8.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by Santa Fe ISD. Three of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Fe J HLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,003 | B− |
| Santa Fe H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,314 | C |
| William F Barnett ElTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 640 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
At 11 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 84% of Texas’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 17 reported in 2025, 1.3 per 1,000 residents.
The property crime rate in Santa Fe is 5.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Santa Fe | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.6 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Houston Nwso weather station, 6 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 317 days, longer than in 96% of U.S. towns. January nights average 45.2°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 91.5°.
Santa Fe has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
615 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 45 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 67% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 615 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Santa Fe.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
81% of Santa Fe households own their home. The typical Santa Fe home is worth about $334,000, up 1.2% in a year, 13% above the Texas typical home.
| Santa Fe | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 81% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,240 a month | $1,206 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 8,720 U.S. towns with household incomes like Santa Fe’s, it is less healthy than 62%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Santa Fe beats the Texas average on 9 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 19% of adults binge drink in Santa Fe.
| Santa Fe | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 74% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 37% | 35% |
| What stands out | Santa Fe | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 13% | 19.1% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 14% | 19.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.8% | 6.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Just 39 of its 10,966 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Santa Fe itself; its outdoors grade is D.
0.4 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Santa Fe Girls Softball | — | 12 |
| 2. Runge Park | — | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
4 within 15 miles of the center of Santa Fe
About 3 of every 100 Santa Fe residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Texas.
City in Texas, United States
Santa Fe is a city in Galveston County, Texas, United States. It is named for the Santa Fe Railroad (now part of BNSF Railway), which runs through the town alongside State Highway 6. The population of Santa Fe at the 2020 census was 12,735.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Santa Fe.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Santa Fe grades B− overall, better than 48% of U.S. towns and #196 of 640 in Texas. It grades B for health, B+ for safety and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
