City · Dawson County, Texas

Lamesa, Texas

Lamesa is a city in Dawson County, Texas. It has 8,393 residents. Lamesa, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 9 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,289 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #779 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on suicide rate (low), time spent in the emergency room (low) and home price to income ratio (low). It ranks worst on mental health providers (low), mammography screening (low) and voter turnout (low).

9Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,289 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #779 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 8,393 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 1,640.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 4841164

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.

Safety8#14,401/15,637
Economy2#15,316/15,631
Housing39#9,062/14,977
Health21#12,394/15,609
Healthcare13#13,611/15,650
Environment68#4,884/15,453
Education8#14,429/15,649
Infrastructure1#15,452/15,650
Community21#12,357/15,651
Leisure & amenities62#5,930/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Suicide rate · low0.0 /100k
100/100Texas 14.4 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataDawson County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low107 min
94/100Texas 149 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesDawson County value
Home price to income ratio · low1.9×
93/100Texas 3.6×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Social associations · high15.0 /10k
91/100Texas 7.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDawson County value
Pharmacies · high2.5 /10k
91/100Texas 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDawson County value
Comfortable days · high31.3%
84/100Texas 30.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationDawson County value

Weaknesses

Mental health providers · low9 /100k
0/100Texas 181 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDawson County value
Mammography screening · low22.0%
0/100Texas 42.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDawson County value
Voter turnout · low41.3%
1/100Texas 57.8%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionDawson County value
Traffic deaths · high42.8 /100k
2/100Texas 14.1 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataDawson County value
Food environment index · low5.5
2/100Texas 5.7United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDawson County value
Job growth · low-4.4%
3/100Texas 0.6%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataDawson County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
9,221 (2015-2019) → 8,393 (2020-2024)
−9%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
9.2 /1k (2021) → 0.5 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−95%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
67.2% (2015-2019) → 83.0% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Average commute timeWorsening
16.4 min (2015-2019) → 24.9 min (2020-2024)
+52%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Child poverty rateImproving
39.4% (2015-2019) → 30.4% (2020-2024)
−9 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateImproving
29.4% (2015-2019) → 22.7% (2020-2024)
−6.8 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, Lamesa, Texas improved on 1 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 13 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+16 points67.2% → 83.0%

Declined1

Commute+8.5 min16.4 min → 24.9 min

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Lamesa, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	16.4 min2015-2019	24.9 min2020-2024	+8.5 min	Declined	3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.9%2015-2019	13.8%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	21%
Broadband subscriptions	67.2%2015-2019	83.0%2020-2024	+16 points	Improved	82%
Child poverty rate	39.4%2015-2019	30.4%2020-2024	−9 points	Within the margin of error	80%
Effective property tax rate	1.26%2015-2019	1.70%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	1%
High school diploma or higher	70.5%2015-2019	76.0%2020-2024	+5.5 points	Within the margin of error	84%
Home price to income ratio	1.9×2015-2019	1.9×2020-2024	+0.0×	Within the margin of error	77%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5112015-2019	0.5152020-2024	+0.004	Within the margin of error	47%
Median household income	$36,9042015-2019	$49,0072020-2024	+33%	Within the margin of error	61%
Poverty rate	29.4%2015-2019	22.7%2020-2024	−6.8 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	29.6%2015-2019	30.8%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	45%
Rent-burdened households	48.8%2015-2019	50.8%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Unemployment rate	5.8%2015-2019	7.3%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	22%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	19.5%2015-2019	23.8%2020-2024	+4.3 points	Within the margin of error	13%

“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 Lamesa, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Lamesa, 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, Lamesa, Texas itself moved −7.2 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

8,393 residents (±26)

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

3,409 households (±191)

Lamesa, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k29%974
$25k–50k22%744
$50k–75k13%†444

Homes

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

Owners and renters

3,409 households (±191)

Lamesa, Texas
Texas share

Own69%2,362
Rent31%1,047

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

3,653 workers (±251)

Lamesa, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone69%2,508
Carpool22%793
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 Dawson County, the county holding most of Lamesa's residents.

Dawson County has 271 employer establishments, 228 for every 10,000 residents (0.92× the US rate of 248; 1.04× Texas's), with 2,578 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,227. The Census Bureau also counts 666 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 271; 666 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 228; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 2,578
Average annual pay: $54,227; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	27	22.7	1.23×About typical	336	$17,235	5
Religious organizations	18	15.1	2.72×More than typical	50	$18,200	—
Specialty trade contractors	14	11.8	0.76×Fewer than typical	95	$63,316	57
Full-service restaurants	13	10.9	1.42×More than typical	115	$17,513	3
Ambulatory health care services	12	10.1	0.48×Fewer than typical	69	$53,594	20
Automotive repair and maintenance	10	8.4	1.67×More than typical	27	$37,148	17
Limited-service restaurants	10	8.4	1.05×About typical	208	$16,899	—
Truck transportation	10	8.4	1.66×More than typical	49	$69,898	34
Insurance agencies and brokerages	9	7.6	1.72×Too few to compare	26	$61,192	13
Building equipment contractors	8	6.7	1.12×Too few to compare	57	$43,158	6
Gasoline stations	6	5	1.55×Too few to compare	54	$32,370	—
Traveler accommodation	6	5	2.79×Too few to compare	32	$23,563	—

Rank places for an industry Open Dawson County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 11,912 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Dawson 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.

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

House

Jodey C. ArringtonR-TX-19 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 3.3%

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.

Dawson County17100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Dawson 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/4841164

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends