City · Bastrop County, Texas

Bastrop, Texas

Bastrop is a city in Bastrop County, Texas, part of the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX metro area. It has 11,156 residents. Bastrop, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 20 out of 100 (low), ranking #12,489 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #504 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on job growth (high), time spent in the emergency room (low) and new homes permitted (high). It ranks worst on grocery stores (low), drought exposure (high) and hot days (high).

20Low

Quality-of-life score: #12,489 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #504 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 11,156 (2020-2024)
Land area: 10 mi²
Density: 1,133.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 4805864

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety23#12,008/15,637
Economy59#6,412/15,631
Housing39#9,127/14,977
Health52#7,536/15,609
Healthcare6#14,659/15,650
Environment47#8,137/15,453
Education20#12,540/15,649
Infrastructure67#5,173/15,650
Community1#15,416/15,651
Leisure & amenities2#15,302/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Bastrop, Texas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Bastrop County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Job growth · high4.3%
97/100Texas 0.6%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataBastrop County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low103 min
95/100Texas 149 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesBastrop County value
New homes permitted · high18.3 /1k
95/100Texas 6.3 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Broadband subscriptions · high95.6%
83/100Texas 91.3%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Child poverty rate · low2.7%
83/100Texas 17.9%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Comfortable days · high30.8%
82/100Texas 30.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBastrop County value

Weaknesses

Grocery stores · low0.5 /10k
1/100Texas 1.1 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBastrop County value
Drought exposure · high100%
2/100Texas 57%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAABastrop County value
Hot days · high124 days
3/100Texas 111 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBastrop County value
Reading scores · low2.62
5/100Texas 2.89United States 3.052018University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBastrop County value
Restaurants and bars · low4.3 /10k
6/100Texas 7.8 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBastrop County value
Primary care physicians · low25 /100k
8/100Texas 61 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBastrop County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
8,776 (2015-2019) → 11,156 (2020-2024)
+27%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
21.6% (2015-2019) → 2.6% (2020-2024)
−19 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
New homes permittedWorsening
45.5 /1k (2021) → 18.3 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−60%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$56,425 (2015-2019) → $81,551 (2020-2024)
+45%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
89.5% (2015-2019) → 95.6% (2020-2024)
+6.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Poverty rateImproving
13.2% (2015-2019) → 7.2% (2020-2024)
−6 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Bastrop, Texas improved on 2 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Inequality−0.1320.521 → 0.389
Broadband+6.1 points89.5% → 95.6%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Bastrop, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	30.8 min2015-2019	30.0 min2020-2024	−0.8 min	Within the margin of error	58%
Bachelor's degree or higher	33.1%2015-2019	35.0%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Broadband subscriptions	89.5%2015-2019	95.6%2020-2024	+6.1 points	Improved	38%
Effective property tax rate	1.70%2015-2019	1.50%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	58%
High school diploma or higher	93.0%2015-2019	89.9%2020-2024	−3.1 points	Within the margin of error	11%
Home price to income ratio	3.5×2015-2019	4.2×2020-2024	+0.7×	Within the margin of error	37%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5212015-2019	0.3892020-2024	−0.132	Improved	98%
Median household income	$56,4252015-2019	$81,5512020-2024	+45%	Within the margin of error	79%
Rent as share of income	27.3%2015-2019	28.3%2020-2024	+1 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Rent-burdened households	42.9%2015-2019	47.0%2020-2024	+4.1 points	Within the margin of error	41%
Unemployment rate	6.4%2015-2019	7.2%2020-2024	+0.8 points	Within the margin of error	32%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.8%2015-2019	13.1%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	23%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Bastrop, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Bastrop, Texas in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Bastrop, Texas itself moved +3.2 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

11,156 residents (±29)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

4,917 households (±401)

Bastrop, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k14%†698
$25k–50k19%†933
$50k–75k14%

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

4,917 households (±401)

Bastrop, Texas
Texas share

Own56%2,759
Rent44%2,158

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

5,926 workers (±576)

Bastrop, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone68%4,046
Carpool13%†795
Public transit1.2%†72

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Bastrop County, the county holding most of Bastrop's residents.

Bastrop County has 1,778 employer establishments, 159 for every 10,000 residents (0.64× the US rate of 248; 0.73× Texas's), with 17,763 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,779. The Census Bureau also counts 10,292 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,778; 10,292 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 159; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 17,763
Average annual pay: $44,779; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Bastrop County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	245	22	1.42×More than typical	1,303	$64,188	1,784
Restaurants and other eating places	129	11.6	0.63×Fewer than typical	2,394	$24,760	53
Ambulatory health care services	116	10.4	0.50×Fewer than typical	845	$60,852	247
Building equipment contractors	93	8.3	1.39×More than typical	745	$69,271	320
Construction of buildings	92	8.2	1.09×About typical	226	$45,960	796
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	67	6	1.91×More than typical	194	$54,825	441
Full-service restaurants	58	5.2	0.68×Fewer than typical	928	$25,658	25
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors	57	5.1	1.55×More than typical	577	$71,666	171
Lessors of real estate	56	5	0.41×Fewer than typical	78	$55,295	556
Services to buildings and dwellings	53	4.8	0.70×Fewer than typical	329	$44,635	961
Limited-service restaurants	52	4.7	0.58×Fewer than typical	1,330	$24,036	16
Other specialty trade contractors	52	4.7	1.86×More than typical	240	$48,938	445

Rank places for an industry Open Bastrop County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 111,561 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $375.1K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Bastrop, Texas: $33.62 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $375.1K; −25% vs FY2025
Per resident: $33.62; US $1,994
Sole-source: 94%; US 30%
Single offer: 2.1%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$284.2K76%
National Institutes of Health$74.6K20%
Department of the Army$9,8692.6%
Federal Prison Industries / Unicor$6,4711.7%

Top recipients

BLASCO CONSTRUCTION CORP$267.9K71%
THE UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS M.D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER$74.6K20%
FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES, INC$5,7211.5%
ADVANTAGE TRAILER RENTALS LLC$5,5261.5%
PUYENPA CONSTRUCTION, LLC$5,5001.5%

Spending by fiscal year

2.6MFY2017
6.5MFY2018
3.5MFY2019
5.6MFY2020
303.4KFY2021
94.1KFY2022
840.9KFY2023
1.9MFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Building equipment contractors · 2382$270.1K72%
Other professional, scientific, and technical services · 5419$74.6K20%
Apparel accessories and other apparel manufacturing · 3159$5,7211.5%
Employment services · 5613$5,7161.5%
Automotive equipment rental and leasing · 5321$5,5261.5%
Nonresidential building construction · 2362

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Bastrop, Texas, so they do not add up across cities.

Bastrop, Texas's figures are part of those of Bastrop County, TX ($8.9M in FY2026), never added to them: 4.2% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Bastrop is mostly in Bastrop County.

See federal money in Bastrop County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Bastrop, Texas is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Bastrop County26100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX68

Other cities and towns in Bastrop County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/4805864

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends