Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
West's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades B+, ranked 77th of 640 in Texas. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 76% of U.S. towns and it is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns. On the outdoors, just 84 of Texas’ 1,000 towns do better. West’s July high is 95°F, near the Texas town median (95°F) and above the median of U.S. towns (85°F).
Where West beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far West is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 851 in 1900, 2,531 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1913 and 5 maps from 1892 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in West, 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 West.
West carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Texas (mostly tornadoes), fares better on crime within Texas than nationally and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 100% of Texas towns; that rating is what its A+ for hazard risk is built on.
The FEMA risk score in West is 2 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by West ISD. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is West H S, with 375 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| West MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 279 | B+ |
| West H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 375 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
At 9.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 90% of Texas’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2025, 1.2 per 1,000 residents.
West’s property crime rate is 3.8 per 1,000 residents.
| West | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.8 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.2 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
July afternoons average 95.3°, hotter than in 96% of U.S. towns; January nights average 36.5°.
West has mild winters and hot summers. Snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
West has about as many jobs (1,202) as working residents, but only 224 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave West for work: only 18% work in town. Since 2013, West has lost 67 jobs, to 1,202 in 2023. The top destinations are Waco (25%), Austin (3%) and Lacy-Lakeview (3%).
| West | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 12% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 9,370 U.S. towns with household incomes like West’s, it is healthier than 61%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
West beats the Texas average on 4 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 14% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in West.
| West | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 22% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | West | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 13.7% | 19.1% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 14.4% | 16.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.2% | 6.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Values rose 2.3% in the past year while the Texas typical home fell 1.5%.
Typical home values rose 2.3% in the year to September 2026. 64% of West households own their home.
| West | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 64% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,002 a month | $1,208 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around West. Close and well known come first.
19 mi Stadium & arenaMcLane Stadium
17 mi MuseumTexas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum
14 mi National MonumentWaco Mammoth National Monument92K visitors a year
16 mi Zoo & aquariumCameron Park Zoo
17 mi MuseumMayborn Museum ComplexMcLane Stadium: Djyueng, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum: Pi3.124, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Waco Mammoth National Monument: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0 · Cameron Park Zoo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0 · Mayborn Museum Complex: User:Aboxorocks, Public domain
2 within 15 miles of the center of West
About 4 of every 100 West residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Texas.
4 notable people were born in West.
City in Texas, United States
West is a city in McLennan County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,531. It is named after Thomas West, the city's first postmaster. The city is in north-central Texas, about 70 miles (110 km) south of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, 20 miles north of Waco, and 120 miles north of Austin. Despite its name, the city is not in West Texas; area residents sometimes call the community "West comma Texas" to avoid confusion. As of 2012 it has one of the largest concentrations of Czech Texans of any city in the state.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. West grades B+ overall, better than 70% of U.S. towns and #77 of 640 in Texas. It grades C+ for health, A− for safety and B+ for schools.
That is 4.4 years of the area's median household income ($66,205 across the Waco, TX metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
4 notable people were born here, including Scott Podsednik and Buster Chatham.
