Ah, Texas. The Lone Star State. The state where secession is talked about on a daily basis. A place for rebels, pick-up trucks, sexy cheerleaders, and the hardest-working Americans of all time.
But, is it all roses in Texas? Of course not. For every good, there has to be a bad. And that’s where this post aims to investigate. Even in one of the best states in the union, there have to be bad spots. The dead zones. The bruises on the apple, if you will.
After analyzing almost 238 of the most populous cities, we came up with this list as the absolute worst 10 places in the state of Texas:
- Jacksonville
- Port Arthur
- Donna
- Tomball
- Mercedes
- Vidor
- Galveston
- Weslaco
- Freeport
- Huntsville
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town ranked.
Small Towns vs. Big Cities. Which is Better?
In order to rank the worst places in Texas, we had to determine if it made sense to put a large town in the same category as a tiny town, of say, 10 people. We decided that it makes sense to rank only the larger cities, so we cut the population off at 10,000.
Because Sammy Martinez, Texas, population 11, probably shouldn’t be mentioned in the same context as Dallas.
And speaking of Dallas, we’re sure you’re wondering how the larger cities ranked. There’s a chart at the bottom with all of the cities in order from worst to best.
An additional note: Crime rates can be higher in beach towns and destinations, meaning a population swells during certain times of the year, as does the crime there. This article, and the data used, simply account for the number of crimes that occur in a given location, regardless of outsiders causing such crimes.
How we crunched the numbers
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using FBI crime data, the government census, Bureau of Labor Statistics and Sperling’s Best Places, this is the criteria we used:
- Population Density (The lower the worst)
- Higher Unemployment Rates
- Adjusted Median Income (Median income adjusted for the cost of living)
- High Housing Vacancy Rate
- Education (Expenditures per student and Student Teacher Ratio)
- Long Commute Times
- High Crime
- The Worst Weather
1. Jacksonville, TX
Population: 14,550
Student expenditure: Bottom 5%
Crime: 24th most dangerous in Texas
Unemployment: 5.8%
Jacksonville, Texas takes the cake as being, on paper, the worst place to live in the state of Texas. Crime is very bad, in comparison to the rest of the state, and student expenditure (the amount of money spent per student) is also one of the lowest.
Additionally, the household median income here is just over $31,000, also very low.
Jacksonville is in eastern Texas, just south of Tyler.
2. Port Arthur, TX
Population: 54,022
Unemployment rate: 11.3%
Population density: Bottom 5%
House vacancy rate: 16%
Port Arthur has 702 people per square mile. In comparison, Dallas has a population density of 3,500 per square mile. That means there’s a lot of open space here. Say what you want about ‘open spaces’, but in terms of feeling like you’re part of a community, it’s hard to do when everyone is spread out.
In addition, almost 1 in 5 homes in Port Arthur is vacant. Meaning…more open spaces. Unemployment is almost twice the national average here as well.
On the bright side, spending on students in Port Arthur is the second-highest in Texas at an astounding $16,494.
3. Donna, TX
Population: 15,924
Median household income: $25,360
Crime: 19th highest in the state
Donna, located at the far southeastern tip of the state, is one of the more dangerous places in Texas. In fact, that entire region ranks very high on our most dangerous cities in Texas study.
Household incomes are very low here as well. Basically, Donna is a small town with a high unemployment rate where there’s not a lot to do in the general vicinity except listen to police sirens.
4. Tomball, TX
Population: 10,732
Population density: Bottom 5% in the state
Commute time: Higher than average
Sunny days: Bottom 20 in Texas
Tiny Tomball, on the northern fringe of Houston’s suburbs, is very spread out for a city of its size. Factor in long commutes into the city with a high home vacancy rate, and it’s generally one of the worst places you could live, statistically.
And if you love sunshine, this isn’t the place for you: Tomball ranks almost dead last in terms of sunny days in Texas.
5. Mercedes, TX
Population: 15,803
Household income: $25,490
Unemployment rate: 8.6%
Comfort Index: 18th worst in Texas
Mercedes, located right next door to Donna at the tip of Texas, has a very low household income and a very high unemployment rate. And, the weather here is really lousy as well. The comfort index, a measurement used by BestPlaces.Net as a way to factor in temperature, rainy days and humidity, puts Mercedes toward the bottom of the list in Texas in terms of overall weather likeability.
6. Vidor, TX
Population: 10,735
Unemployment: 7.2%
Population density: Lowest 5% in Texas
Vidor has one of the highest household incomes on our worst places list (homes average almost $39,000 a year in income), but when you factor in a low student expenditure, low population density and a very high unemployment rate, it’s pretty bad across the board here.
Vidor is just across the Neches River on the eastern side of Beaumont.
7. Galveston, TX
Population: 48,352
Home vacancy rate: 38%
Household income: $37,770
Crime: Top 5% in Texas
Galveston has an astounding 38% vacancy rate in Texas. Meaning that more than 1 of 3 homes is boarded up or not being used. Yes, it’s a beach town, and homes are used for vacations, but that’s still off the charts high.
Additionally, crime is very high and household income is very low. Factor in one the least sunniest places in the state, and you’ve got a real situation down there.
Galveston, oh, Galveston!
8. Weslaco, TX
Crime: The worst in the state of Texas
Home vacancy rate: 19%
Unemployment rate: 8.6%
Across the board, Weslaco is one of the worst places in the state, period. There is more crime in Weslaco than in any other place. Just a short drive from Brownsville (and the Mexican border), Weslaco residents have a 1 in 95 chance of being the victim of a violent crime – meaning raped, murdered or attacked.
Additionally, 1 in every 5 homes here is vacant and nearly 1 in 10 people are without a job.
9. Freeport, TX
Population: 12,107
Home vacancy rate: 20%
Education ranking: Bottom 5% in Texas
Freeport is located just south of Galveston along the Gulf Coast. Students here get some of the least support in the state, as spending per student and teacher-to-student ratios are very much below average. And when 1 in 5 homes aren’t occupied, that’s just a bad sign.
10. Huntsville, TX
Population: 38,682
Student expenditure: 10th lowest in the state
Household income: 29,254
Weather: Worst 5% in Texas
Huntsville, out in the middle of nowhere, and about an hour drive north of Houston, rounds out the top 10. Residents here earn less than most other Texas folks, and weather wise, it’s not very comfortable here.
On the bright side, the unemployment rate in Huntsville is well below the national average.
There You Have It
That just about does it. If you’re considering a relocation, you probably want to avoid these areas. Perhaps there will be a sad country song about some of these places one day
Oh, wait there already is.
I read about half of this article before I just gave up. It’s poorly written and poorly researched. It’s impossible for the population of Tomball to be 10,000 unless high school students alone make up half of it. If you have ever been to Galveston you would understand that it’s a beach town full of beach houses that most people only use as vacation homes hence the high vacancy rate. This article provides very little information and the info it did provide is just inaccurate, rendering it a pointless read.
“Huntsville, out in the middle of nowhere” Really? It’s an hour north of Houston, 50 miles from Bryan/College Station and it sits on busy I-45. That’s your idea of the “middle of nowhere?” Have you been to any cities in West Texas?
Have you ever actually been to Jacksonville? I can not possibly IMAGINE putting it on this list, much less having it compared to Port Arthur?!?! Wow!!!! Get your facts straight guy.
Omg you are so right. Jacksonville is a great town, been here several years and the crime rate is low. Great town to live in. This article is wrong.
What a rude and subjective article! I’ve lived in Austin, Houston and another small Texas town but have now lived in Huntsville for 19 years. We researched carefully and decided this is where we wanted to raise our family. We have never doubted our decision. (LOW crime, low cost of living, LOW unemployment, Little traffic, stable economy, Sam Houston State University athletic events, close to Houston, beautify piney woods, friendly people, great churches, diversity, great private school) However, like another person stated, maybe it’s fine you list Huntsville as low. We will keep Huntsville our little secret!
The writer should be jailed for crimes against grammar.
Besides all the grammatical errors, it is sad that you feel the need to tear down these towns during their hard times instead of finding some good in them. Do better next time and report some positive worth while information, instead of this poorly researched junk.
How in the world can you come up with a list of 237 of the most populous cities in Texas and not have Pasadena, Tx on the list? It is the 17th largest city in the state. You mentioned every single city that borders Pasadena and the only one that shares a common boundary that is larger than Pasadena is Houston.
Well, I am not from Freeport but to be fair about it, the students there dont need help from the state, They are part of The Brazosport Independent School District which at one time was amongst the wealthest in the state, the writer could have done a little better job in his research, its too bad he chose to take a positive and try to make it a negative.
You can’t take this seriously… they are using different data points on different cities. That’s called cherry picking your data. I call BS. I wouldn’t call Tomball a city. I lived neat the Klein / Tomball border, went to school, and worked there. Plenty. of. sunny. days. Huntsville isn’t in the middle of nowhere. It’s on the 45 corridor between Houston, and Dallas. This article was written by an idiot.
this article is complete trash. Of course you would take the most horrible picture of tomball. I love living here, it’s my home town and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Obviously you’ve never been here or felt how big of a heart this town has. Shame on you.
This article is just plain stupid!! I DO live in Freeport. It is not a perfect city but it has been a great place to live for 47 years. Dow Chemical made my husband a good living unti he retired. Our Children went to school here and I would put them up against anyone. We have the best Church in all of Texas, yea, in all of the U.S.A. Please dont say negative things about my city unless you get your facts straight.
Get your Facts right… Lake Jackson has the Highest rate of Employment in the State..
Get your Facts straight.. Lake Jackson has the highest employment rate in the state.. We are in the process of building several Billion dollars of New chemical plants right now and have hired over 4000 workers from out of state this year.. Freeport and Clute people can get All the Jobs they care to work.. Also, L.J. has the lowest crime in the state.. Great Place to live or Party..
several Billion
Hell no George. I’m from Freeport. Lake Jackson isn’t building a single plant there stupid. Its all being built in Freeport and oyster creek. Get your facts right
According to this list the median salary is what brings Huntsville so far down. The problem is that Huntsville counts students in its population..which skews the median salary extremely low. So yes, Huntsville on this list is absolutely wrong.
Lived there for 7 years and the woodlands is 30min away, Bryan/College station is close, and Houston is only an hour away. Despite having all those places close by, you still have the national forest close by and the small town charm.
I agree about the income being low because of the students being factored in, but the biggest employer in town is TDCJ, and the CO’s there are some of the lowest paid in this country. That is a factor as well. If he wants to find a place in the middle of nowhere, he should go to Pittsburg, Texas. Huntsville isn’t in the middle of nowhere.
Sooo…has the author even been to Texas? Let’s look at it this way y’all, maybe people will stop moving here if they read this. Lol. Born and raised and proud to be.
Nick Johnson, from homesnacks.com, is the author of this article and he is obviously not well versed in doing proper research. His website clearly states that they “gather data from around the web to help determine a wide array of factors about where you live”. So what you are saying, Mr. Johnson, is that you did not visit Tomball, or any of these cities, walked down each main street, interacted with people, shook any hands of business owners…nothing at all in your research. All you did was took the lazy way out and just used the internet to look up commute times and how many “sunny days” each city has throughout the year. How lame. You boast having 20 years experience working in journalism and media? What you are writing is not journalism sir. It is merely a few sentences of random Google searches giving you information you know nothing about. Your article is a bunch of crap. Mr. Johnson, don’t you know by now you can’t believe everything you find on the internet? Population density, commute times, and sunny days are the subjects you chose to use for your “list”? Come on, really? I am not alone with my thoughts on how ignorant and useless your writing is. Just read the feedback to this article from everyone else. If you’re going to publish information to the internet for everyone to read, then at least do everyone a favor and get your facts straight first. Smh…
One of the worst articles and some of the worst research I’ve ever seen. Destroys the credibility of homesnacks.com.
What you have for Jacksonville is correct, our mother moved us here in 1966 after our dad passed away they have never had anything for kid to do(that’s why their are gangs,drinking,and drugs), was that way when I was in school. Use to be if you weren’t a big wig or someone with money, no industry was allowed unless they made a profit out of it.
the only thing undeniable here is the total subject ignorance of the author. Galveston is a tourist destination. It’s vacancy rate is seasonal. If you don’t believe me, try to rent something, anything in July.
You’ve got to be kidding? This article is a waste of time. For the sake of geography lets get this right…. In the RGV otherwise known as the Rio Grande Valley it’s Donna, then Weslaco and then Mercedes. And NO it’s not a short drive to Brownsville. More like 1 1/2-2 hour drive. I’ve been to all of those towns and everyone is very nice and helpful. It’s always sunny out there. I live 20 minutes away from Donna so yeah, the facts are totally wrong. This is a joke of an article.
this article stinks!!! I’ve been to every town in Texas that was mentioned except 3 of them! I think the idiot that wrote this needs to actually travel to the cities that was mentioned.
This is a horribly written article…. and I would bet the author has never really been to Tomball (or half these towns on the list) … the scene depicted in the picture is about 5 years old .. the town looks fabulous and has so much activity…. my advice…. research and visit these towns before you publicize and article like this!!
signed – loving life in Tomball!!!
This uses skewed data and one measurement that is used in reverse of common sense. Galveston and to some extent, Freeport and Corpus Christi have high vacancy rates because they are seasonal. The homes and condos rent very well in the summer and yes, high vacancy rates in the winter. Average median incomes include students in large colleges in not so large cities like Huntsville and Nacogdoches. Speaking of Huntsville, is the prison population in the median income calculation? Again, on Huntsville, they are not in the middle of nowhere. They are on an interstate highway in the triangle of Houston, Dallas/FW, and Austin/San Antonio and maybe one hour north of the largest city in the state, Houston. Fredericksburg is way off a major freeway and there are many cities in Texas, particularly South and West Texas, that are far from a major city’s airport, healthcare, and entertainment. Then there is the density ratio. If the city is full of 2 or 3 story apartment buildings, this study gives them a low score and ranks the city as one of the greatest cities in the state. If homes have half an acre to 2 acre yards, this study says that’s bad. Pollution is however, not even factored in.
Conroe is only #20? That horrible place should honestly be #5 or #6.
I have lived in Tomball for 21 years and I teach in Tomball. I could not be more proud of this little piece of paradise. Love the main street parades that honor our veterans, athletes, and little league teams. We show our kids that they are important and if you look at the scores for our schools you would be looking for one of those empty houses to move your family into.
I think they might have factored in that it is the main hq for our vast amount of convict housing units.