City · Montague County, Texas

Bowie, Texas

Bowie is a city in Montague County, Texas. It has 5,770 residents. Bowie, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 7 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,563 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #828 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on time spent in the emergency room (low), child care cost burden (low) and social associations (high). It ranks worst on mental health providers (low), hospital quality rating (low) and mammography screening (low).

7Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,563 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #828 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 5,770 (2020-2024)
Land area: 6 mi²
Density: 1,045.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 4809640

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 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.

Safety32#10,598/15,637
Economy27#11,383/15,631
Housing40#9,022/14,977
Health18#12,745/15,609
Healthcare3#15,130/15,650
Environment27#11,208/15,453
Education18#12,862/15,649
Infrastructure2#15,309/15,650
Community42#9,050/15,651
Leisure & amenities1#15,490/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Bowie, Texas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Montague 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

Time spent in the emergency room · low108 min
93/100Texas 149 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMontague County value
Child care cost burden · low22.8%
85/100Texas 24.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMontague County value
Social associations · high13.4 /10k
84/100Texas 7.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMontague County value
Public libraries · high1.4 /10k
84/100Texas 0.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesMontague County value
Students per teacher · low12.4×
78/100Texas 15.0×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsMontague County value
New homes permitted · high4.3 /1k
74/100Texas 6.3 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data

Weaknesses

Mental health providers · low18 /100k
1/100Texas 181 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMontague County value
Hospital quality rating · low1.0
1/100Texas 3.4United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMontague County value
Mammography screening · low29.0%
2/100Texas 42.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMontague County value
Broadband subscriptions · low76.6%
3/100Texas 91.3%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Texas 1.2 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMontague County value
Flu vaccinations · low27.0%
4/100Texas 40.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMontague County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
5,050 (2015-2019) → 5,770 (2020-2024)
+14%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
47.9% (2015-2019) → 60.0% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Average commute timeWorsening
23.3 min (2015-2019) → 34.9 min (2020-2024)
+50%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
21.0% (2015-2019) → 11.1% (2020-2024)
−9.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.1× (2015-2019) → 3.0× (2020-2024)
+46%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Median household incomeImproving
$40,720 (2015-2019) → $57,488 (2020-2024)
+41%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Bowie, Texas improved on 2 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 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

Uninsured−9.9 points21.0% → 11.1%
Household income+41%$40,720 → $57,488

Declined2

Commute+11.7 min23.3 min → 34.9 min
Price / income+1.0×2.1× → 3.0×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Bowie, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	23.3 min2015-2019	34.9 min2020-2024	+11.7 min	Declined	1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.2%2015-2019	13.4%2020-2024	−2.8 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Broadband subscriptions	72.3%2015-2019	76.6%2020-2024	+4.3 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Child poverty rate	28.7%2015-2019	24.2%2020-2024	−4.6 points	Within the margin of error	67%
Effective property tax rate	1.71%2015-2019	1.05%2020-2024	−0.7 points	Within the margin of error	96%
High school diploma or higher	89.0%2015-2019	86.1%2020-2024	−2.9 points	Within the margin of error	11%
Home price to income ratio	2.1×2015-2019	3.0×2020-2024	+1.0×	Declined	24%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3892015-2019	0.4052020-2024	+0.016	Within the margin of error	37%
Median household income	$40,7202015-2019	$57,4882020-2024	+41%	Improved	75%
Poverty rate	22.1%2015-2019	16.7%2020-2024	−5.4 points	Within the margin of error	82%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	29.1%2015-2019	33.2%2020-2024	+4.1 points	Within the margin of error	26%
Rent-burdened households	47.9%2015-2019	60.0%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	21.0%2015-2019	11.1%2020-2024	−9.9 points	Improved	96%

“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 Bowie, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Bowie, 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, Bowie, Texas itself moved −15.4 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

5,770 residents (±18)

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

2,365 households (±178)

Bowie, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k21%†492
$25k–50k22%†524
$50k–75k22%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,365 households (±178)

Bowie, Texas
Texas share

Own69%1,625
Rent31%740

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+12.3 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,148 workers (±236)

Bowie, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone82%1,761
Carpool11%†238
Public transit0.0%0

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 Montague County, the county holding most of Bowie's residents.

Montague County has 448 employer establishments, 207 for every 10,000 residents (0.83× the US rate of 248; 0.95× Texas's), with 3,667 paid employees at an average annual pay of $45,275. The Census Bureau also counts 2,285 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 448; 2,285 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 207; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 3,667
Average annual pay: $45,275; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	32	14.8	0.95×About typical	158	$52,873	287
Religious organizations	26	12	2.17×More than typical	99	$21,586	—
Restaurants and other eating places	26	12	0.65×Fewer than typical	405	$17,156	19
Ambulatory health care services	18	8.3	0.40×Fewer than typical	78	$53,103	54
Building equipment contractors	14	6.5	1.07×About typical	82	$51,488	54
Automotive repair and maintenance	13	6	1.19×About typical	55	$46,436	36
Limited-service restaurants	13	6	0.75×Fewer than typical	296	$15,473	7
Gasoline stations	12	5.5	1.71×More than typical	143	$24,860	—
Lessors of real estate	12	5.5	0.45×Fewer than typical	21	$41,857	152
Truck transportation	12	5.5	1.10×About typical	68	$78,015	77
Construction of buildings	11	5.1	0.67×Fewer than typical	36	$39,361	97
Management, scientific and technical consulting	11	5.1	0.76×Fewer than typical	22	$54,091	58

Rank places for an industry Open Montague County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 21,649 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Bowie, Texas: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

805.2FY2017
2.2KFY2019
81.5FY2021
2.8KFY2024

What was bought

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 Bowie, Texas, so they do not add up across cities.

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

See federal money in Montague 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.

Bowie, Texas is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Ronny JacksonR-TX-13 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 2.7%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

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

Montague County14100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Montague 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/4809640

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends