Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 10,141, settled in 1879.
Sweetwater earns a D, 564th among Texas's 640 graded towns, mostly because of health and incomes. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 96% of the country. The median household income is $45K, and 28% of residents live below the poverty line. What it does well: natural-hazard risk is low. 28% of residents live below the poverty line in Sweetwater, above both the Texas town median (12%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). On history, just 79 of Texas’ 1,000 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Newman Park, at 36 acres.
Where Sweetwater beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Sweetwater is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 614 in 1890, 10,622 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1969 and 3 maps from 1893 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sweetwater, 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 Sweetwater.
Sweetwater has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it has poverty well above the Texas rate.
25% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Sweetwater. Sweetwater beats the Texas average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 21. 32% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Sweetwater.
| Sweetwater | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 24% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Sweetwater | TX |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 77.9% | 74.1% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.4% | 5.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by Sweetwater ISD. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Sweetwater H S, with 553 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweetwater MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 372 | C− |
| Sweetwater H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 553 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
At 2.3 years of the Sweetwater area’s $51K median household income, the typical home (about $119K) costs less against local pay than in 87% of Texas towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living. Values rose 6.6% in the past year while the Texas typical home fell 1.5%.
The typical Sweetwater home is worth about $119,000, 60% below the Texas typical home. Sweetwater’s median rent is $907 a month.
| Sweetwater | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 60% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $907 a month | $1,208 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 79% of U.S. communities. Since 1999, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sweetwater.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The violent crime rate in Sweetwater is 4.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Sweetwater | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.9 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 12.7 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Roscoe weather station, 7 miles away, records that about 97 days a year reach 90°, more than in 95% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 95.5°, hotter than in 97% of U.S. towns; January nights average 31.3°.
Sweetwater has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. About 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Sweetwater | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 96°F | 95°F | 85°F |
| January low | 31°F | 37°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 4,782 working residents takes 16.1 minutes, against 26.7 across Texas.
41% of Sweetwater’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Abilene (9%), San Angelo (3%) and Fort Worth (2%). Half commute less than 22 miles.
| Sweetwater | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 41% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $45,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| Sweetwater | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.9% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Newman Park | 0.3 mi | 36 |
| 2. Santa Fe Park | — | 10 |
| 3. Fraley Park | — | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Sweetwater; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Sweetwater residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Texas.
4 places in Sweetwater on the National Register of Historic Places.
15 notable people were born in Sweetwater.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sweetwater grades D overall, better than 6% of U.S. towns and #564 of 640 in Texas. It grades D− for health, C for safety and C− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 2.3 years of the area's median household income ($50,747 across the Sweetwater, TX area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
15 notable people were born here, including John Layfield and Robert C. Prim.
