City · Brown County, Texas

Early, Texas

Early is a city in Brown County, Texas, part of the Brownwood, TX metro area. It has 3,143 residents. Early, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 20 out of 100 (very low), ranking #12,599 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #523 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on pharmacies (high), social associations (high) and child care cost burden (low). It ranks worst on hospital quality rating (low), food environment index (low) and distance to an airport (high).

20Very low

Quality-of-life score: #12,599 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #523 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 3,143 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 843.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 4821904

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

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Scores by category

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

Safety17#13,019/15,637
Economy32#10,658/15,631
Housing46#8,155/14,977
Health27#11,327/15,609
Healthcare13#13,613/15,650
Environment73#4,101/15,453
Education37#9,934/15,649
Infrastructure32#10,683/15,650
Community19#12,667/15,651
Leisure & amenities22#12,225/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Pharmacies · high2.8 /10k
95/100Texas 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBrown County value
Social associations · high15.2 /10k
92/100Texas 7.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBrown County value
Child care cost burden · low22.8%
85/100Texas 24.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBrown County value
Comfortable days · high31.3%
84/100Texas 30.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBrown County value
Students per teacher · low12.2×
81/100Texas 15.0×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsBrown County value
Drug overdose deaths · low11.0 /100k
75/100Texas 13.4 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataBrown County value

Weaknesses

Hospital quality rating · low1.0
1/100Texas 3.4United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesBrown County value
Food environment index · low6.0
4/100Texas 5.7United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBrown County value
Distance to an airport · high131 mi
4/100Texas 33 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauBrown County value
Grocery stores · low0.8 /10k
6/100Texas 1.1 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBrown County value
Hot days · high106 days
8/100Texas 111 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBrown County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high16.9%
10/100Texas 19.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010

Trends

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

PopulationRising
2,986 (2015-2019) → 3,143 (2020-2024)
+5.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
10.7 /1k (2021) → 2.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−79%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.5% (2015-2019) → 91.6% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Unemployment rateWorsening
1.3% (2015-2019) → 7.6% (2020-2024)
+6.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$51,420 (2015-2019) → $67,346 (2020-2024)
+31%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
44.6% (2015-2019) → 38.5% (2020-2024)
−6.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

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, Early, Texas improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 12 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.

Improved1

Broadband+13 points78.5% → 91.6%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Early, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	14.2 min2015-2019	17.9 min2020-2024	+3.7 min	Within the margin of error	15%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.8%2015-2019	28.3%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Broadband subscriptions	78.5%2015-2019	91.6%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	73%
Child poverty rate	18.6%2015-2019	20.6%2020-2024	+2 points	Within the margin of error	30%
Effective property tax rate	1.94%2015-2019	1.48%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	89%
High school diploma or higher	93.1%2015-2019	91.9%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	21%
Home price to income ratio	2.1×2015-2019	2.7×2020-2024	+0.5×	Within the margin of error	46%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4072015-2019	0.3832020-2024	−0.025	Within the margin of error	71%
Median household income	$51,4202015-2019	$67,3462020-2024	+31%	Within the margin of error	57%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	23.6%2015-2019	27.0%2020-2024	+3.4 points	Within the margin of error	31%
Rent-burdened households	44.6%2015-2019	38.5%2020-2024	−6.2 points	Within the margin of error	75%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	17.9%2015-2019	16.9%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	60%

“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 Early, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Early, 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, Early, Texas itself moved +0.5 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

3,143 residents (±37)

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

1,170 households (±124)

Early, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k9.1%†106
$25k–50k22%†255
$50k–75k23%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,170 households (±124)

Early, Texas
Texas share

Own71%835
Rent29%335

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

1,454 workers (±221)

Early, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone79%1,147
Carpool10%†147
Public transit0.0%0

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 Brownwood, 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 Brown County, the county holding most of Early's residents.

Brown County has 885 employer establishments, 230 for every 10,000 residents (0.93× the US rate of 248; 1.05× Texas's), with 13,746 paid employees at an average annual pay of $41,462. The Census Bureau also counts 2,967 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 885; 2,967 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 230; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 13,746
Average annual pay: $41,462; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	71	18.5	1.01×About typical	1,379	$18,880	27
Ambulatory health care services	68	17.7	0.85×About typical	1,329	$36,330	77
Specialty trade contractors	67	17.4	1.13×About typical	377	$57,220	313
Religious organizations	42	10.9	1.97×More than typical	273	$18,575	—
Limited-service restaurants	34	8.8	1.10×About typical	753	$18,195	16
Lessors of real estate	33	8.6	0.70×Fewer than typical	55	$31,364	204
Building equipment contractors	30	7.8	1.30×More than typical	203	$48,833	43
Full-service restaurants	30	7.8	1.02×About typical	555	$19,903	6
Automotive repair and maintenance	23	6	1.19×About typical	113	$39,708	71
Construction of buildings	23	6	0.79×Fewer than typical	98	$49,306	140
Gasoline stations	20	5.2	1.60×More than typical	155	$24,761	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	20	5.2	1.18×About typical	179	$48,575	74

Rank places for an industry Open Brown County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 38,447 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 $346 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Early, Texas: $0.11 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $346; −99% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.11; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

Department of Veterans Affairs$346100%

Top recipients

BROWNWOOD III ENTERPRISES LLC$346100%

Spending by fiscal year

449.6FY2018
794.5FY2019
310.7FY2020
16.4KFY2021
16.6KFY2022
822FY2023
-1.9KFY2024
23.4KFY2025

Top industries (NAICS)

Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities) · 6231$346100%

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

Early, Texas's figures are part of those of Brown County, TX ($876.5K in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Brown 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.

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

House

August PflugerR-TX-11 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.3%

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.

Brown County30100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Brownwood, TX19

Other cities and towns in Brown 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/4821904

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends