Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0How is Sonora run?
Sonora’s city government spent $3.5 million on day-to-day services in the year to September 30, 2022, about $1,257 per resident. These are Census Bureau estimates: Sonora didn’t report its figures, so this page shows them without comparisons.
What stands out about how Sonora is run
Read from the city’s budget and official records.
The typical homeowner pays $1,796 a year
Every local property tax on the home: town, schools and county. About 1.25% of the home’s value, vs 1.49% across Texas.
Typical yearly bill next door and statewide
The Housing page’s calculator splits a monthly payment into loan, tax and insurance at Sonora’s rate.
Can I afford it? →The median bill homeowners report to the Census survey (bills of $10,000+ are reported as “$10,000+”). The effective rate is that bill ÷ the median home value: a rough guide, not the official tax rate. In a town this small the estimate has a wide margin.
Tax bills are one input to Sonora’s Cost of living grade. Cost of living in Sonora →
About $1,257 per resident a year, or $3.44 a day
Day-to-day services only (a Census Bureau estimate). The biggest line: courts, inspections & corrections, at 57%.
Thank you for being a neighbor
Sonora didn’t report all of its 2022 figures to the Census Bureau, so most of these numbers are the Bureau’s estimates.
No comparison or trend for Sonora yet
Every year of Sonora’s figures is a Census Bureau estimate: the city reported none of its dollars for 2022. Estimates are shown above, labeled, but never ranked against places that reported or drawn as a trend.
How Town Hall compares budgets →Who’s in charge in Sonora
Names change after every election, so we link to the source that keeps them current.
Sonora’s meeting calendar isn’t in our feed yet. The city posts agendas and minutes on sonoratexas.gov ↗.
One full-time city employee for every 89 residents
On the payroll in March 2022, from the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll. Residents: the Census population in the 2022 finance file (2,764).
By department full-time, plus part-time, March 2022
The Census reports one month’s payroll (March); yearly figures are that month × 12, an estimate. Part-timers count half in the bar lengths.
Sonora Independent School District
Sonora’s K–12 school district. It’s its own government, with a budget separate from the town’s.
Of the $16,440 per pupil, $8,968 goes to the classroom (teachers, aides, supplies); the rest to buses, buildings, counselors and administration. Building projects and debt payments aren’t in the per-pupil figure.
Texas districts overall: 51% local, 36% state, 13% federal.
School year 2023–24. Census Bureau school finance survey.
Sonora’s votes are counted by county
Texas reports official results by county and precinct, not by city, so there are no official results for Sonora alone, and we don’t estimate them. These are Sutton County’s results.
Donald J TrumpRepublican83.3%1,167 votes
Kamala D HarrisDemocrat16.3%228 votesOthers: 0.4% (6 votes).
Most votes in Sutton County: Donald J Trump
Texas: Trump 56.1%, Harris 42.5%
100% of Sonora lies in Sutton County. Every 2024 race in Sutton County is on the county’s page.
Sutton County’s 2024 results →Official 2024 general election returns, as certified (MIT Election Data + Science Lab). Percentages are of votes for candidates; blank and spoiled ballots aren’t counted. Candidates are listed by votes, and party colors are neutral on purpose.
Portraits: Kamala D Harris: official vice-presidential portrait, Lawrence Jackson, The White House, 2021; Donald J Trump: official portrait, Shealah Craighead, The White House, 2017. All are U.S. government works in the public domain. A race shows photos only when every candidate has an official portrait; otherwise every candidate in it gets initials.
From town hall to Washington
Every level of government that speaks for Sonora.
- 1Your cityMayor & councilOfficials: sonoratexas.gov ↗
- 2Texas HouseState representatives
- 3Texas SenateState senator
- 4GovernorStatewide
- 5U.S. HouseYour representative in CongressTexas’s 23rd District
- 6U.S. SenateBoth represent all of Texas
Democrat · Republican · other or independent. Tap a name for their official page.
Reach Sonora’s government
The official site has phone numbers, hours and forms. Neighbors add the rest to the Handbook.
Questions about Sonora’s government
How much does Sonora spend per resident?
About $1,257 per resident on day-to-day services in the year to September 30, 2022, a Census Bureau estimate (Sonora didn’t report its figures). With building projects and interest, the whole budget was about $3.9 million.
What is the property tax rate in Sonora?
Homeowners report a typical bill of $1,796 a year (Census ACS, 2020–24), about 1.25% of the typical home’s value, vs 1.49% across Texas. For the official rate per $1,000 of assessed value, see sonoratexas.gov.
Who runs Sonora’s government?
See sonoratexas.gov for current officials. We name an official only when a public source lists a current term, and none does for Sonora yet.
How did Sonora vote in 2024?
Texas counts votes by county and precinct, not by city, so there are no official results for Sonora alone. Sutton County, where 100% of Sonora lies, voted Trump 83.3%, Harris 16.3% for president; its page has every race.
How many people work for Sonora?
31 full-time and 9 part-time employees in March 2022, with a March payroll of $111,146 (about $1.3M a year if every month were the same), as reported to the Census Bureau.
Who represents Sonora in the state legislature?
State Senate District 24 (Pete Flores) and State House District 53 (Wes Virdell). The House district also covers 26 other towns. Listed by Open States; districts from the Census Bureau.
Ask neighbors about Sonora’s government
Neighbors who’ve been to the meetings can help.
Budget and staff: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Governments (2022, every government) and Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances (2023–24, a sample) and the Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll (for Sonora, the Bureau’s estimates); day-to-day spending is current operations, with hospitals, utilities and airports apart. School district: Census school finance survey, 2023–24. Property tax: Census American Community Survey, 2020–24. Elections: official 2024 returns via the MIT Election Data + Science Lab; turnout uses Census citizen voting-age population (CVAP, 2020–24). Officials: Open States, names shown only with a current term (checked October 9, 2026). Districts: Census Bureau (119th Congress, 2024 state districts); legislators: Open States and congress-legislators. How Town Hall works →