City · Falls County, Texas

Marlin, Texas

Marlin is a city in Falls County, Texas, part of the Waco, TX metro area. It has 5,516 residents. Marlin, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 6 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,693 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #859 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on job growth (high), home price to income ratio (low) and natural hazard risk (low). It ranks worst on primary care physicians (low), mental health providers (low) and lack of reliable transportation (high).

6Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,693 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #859 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 5,516 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 1,221.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 4846740

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 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.

Safety57#6,723/15,637
Economy5#14,829/15,631
Housing46#8,042/14,977
Health10#14,110/15,609
Healthcare1#15,436/15,650
Environment60#6,132/15,453
Education6#14,684/15,649
Infrastructure1#15,540/15,650
Community13#13,647/15,651
Leisure & amenities5#14,896/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Marlin, Texas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Falls 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 · high3.3%
95/100Texas 0.6%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataFalls County value
Home price to income ratio · low1.8×
93/100Texas 3.6×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Natural hazard risk · low5.9
91/100Texas 39.62025Federal Emergency Management AgencyFalls County value
Property crime rate · low467 /100k
91/100Texas 1,786 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureFalls County value
Violent crime rate · low107 /100k
84/100Texas 345 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureFalls County value
Comfortable days · high31.0%
83/100Texas 30.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationFalls County value

Weaknesses

Primary care physicians · low6 /100k
0/100Texas 61 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFalls County value
Mental health providers · low17 /100k
1/100Texas 181 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFalls County value
Lack of reliable transportation · high20.6%
2/100Texas 10.5%United States 8.3%2022Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Restaurants and bars · low2.8 /10k
2/100Texas 7.8 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsFalls County value
Food insecurity · high39.3%
2/100Texas 19.4%United States 15.6%2022Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high25.2%
3/100Texas 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.

Child poverty rateImproving
67.0% (2015-2019) → 25.4% (2020-2024)
−42 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateImproving
47.1% (2015-2019) → 26.7% (2020-2024)
−20 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
54.6% (2015-2019) → 74.8% (2020-2024)
+20 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
64.0% (2015-2019) → 47.0% (2020-2024)
−17 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
High school diploma or higherImproving
66.7% (2015-2019) → 82.6% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Median household incomeImproving
$21,667 (2015-2019) → $36,426 (2020-2024)
+68%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, Marlin, Texas improved on 6 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 7 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.

Improved6

Child poverty−42 points67.0% → 25.4%
Poverty−20 points47.1% → 26.7%
Household income+68%$21,667 → $36,426
Broadband+20 points54.6% → 74.8%
Rent burden−17 points64.0% → 47.0%

Declined1

Uninsured+9.9 points15.4% → 25.2%

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Marlin, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	27.0 min2015-2019	23.8 min2020-2024	−3.2 min	Within the margin of error	80%
Bachelor's degree or higher	6.8%2015-2019	16.2%2020-2024	+9.4 points	Improved	88%
Broadband subscriptions	54.6%2015-2019	74.8%2020-2024	+20 points	Improved	90%
Child poverty rate	67.0%2015-2019	25.4%2020-2024	−42 points	Improved	99%
Effective property tax rate	1.62%2015-2019	1.60%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	19%
High school diploma or higher	66.7%2015-2019	82.6%2020-2024	+16 points	Within the margin of error	99%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	1.8×2020-2024	−0.5×	Within the margin of error	93%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4432015-2019	0.4512020-2024	+0.008	Within the margin of error	44%
Median household income	$21,6672015-2019	$36,4262020-2024	+68%	Improved	94%
Poverty rate	47.1%2015-2019	26.7%2020-2024	−20 points	Improved	99%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	36.7%2015-2019	28.4%2020-2024	−8.3 points	Within the margin of error	91%
Rent-burdened households	64.0%2015-2019	47.0%2020-2024	−17 points	Improved	91%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	15.4%2015-2019	25.2%2020-2024	+9.9 points	Declined	3%

“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 Marlin, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Marlin, 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, Marlin, Texas itself moved +15.3 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

5,516 residents (±14)

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

2,073 households (±233)

Marlin, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k31%†633
$25k–50k28%†581
$50k–75k20%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,073 households (±233)

Marlin, Texas
Texas share

Own66%1,370
Rent34%703

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+14.9 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,878 workers (±294)

Marlin, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone74%1,394
Carpool7.0%†131
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 Waco, 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 Falls County, the county holding most of Marlin's residents.

Falls County has 238 employer establishments, 135 for every 10,000 residents (0.54× the US rate of 248; 0.62× Texas's), with 1,805 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,730. The Census Bureau also counts 1,235 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 238; 1,235 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 135; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 1,805
Average annual pay: $44,730; US $68,342

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

Religious organizations	20	11.3	2.04×More than typical	52	$15,481	—
Specialty trade contractors	14	7.9	0.51×Fewer than typical	91	$67,495	199
Restaurants and other eating places	12	6.8	0.37×Fewer than typical	151	$19,411	17
Truck transportation	11	6.2	1.23×About typical	54	$69,944	75
Ambulatory health care services	10	5.7	0.27×Fewer than typical	94	$47,947	29
Construction of buildings	10	5.7	0.75×Fewer than typical	29	$38,172	52
Gasoline stations	10	5.7	1.75×More than typical	80	$19,900	—
Banks and credit unions	8	4.5	1.40×Too few to compare	38	$59,316	—
Building equipment contractors	7	4	0.66×Too few to compare	77	$71,403	29
General merchandise stores	7	4	2.24×Too few to compare	161	$35,205	6
Lessors of real estate	6	3.4	0.28×Too few to compare	13	$38,923	46
Limited-service restaurants	6	3.4	0.42×Too few to compare	120	$20,775	9

Rank places for an industry Open Falls County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 17,660 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 Marlin, Texas: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0; −100% vs FY2025
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

932FY2017
435.8FY2018
313.7FY2019
5.5KFY2022
-5.5KFY2024
1.3KFY2025

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

Marlin, Texas's figures are part of those of Falls County, TX ($8.8M 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: Marlin is mostly in Falls County.

See federal money in Falls 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.

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

House

Pete SessionsR-TX-17 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 0.3%

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.

Falls County14100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Waco, TX23

Other cities and towns in Falls 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/4846740

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends