Census-designated place · Zapata County, Texas

Medina, Texas

Medina is a census-designated place in Zapata County, Texas, part of the Zapata, TX metro area. It has 4,226 residents. Medina, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 7 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,569 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #829 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on natural hazard risk (low), suicide rate (low) and drug overdose deaths (low). It ranks worst on lack of reliable transportation (high), uninsured residents (under 65) (high) and food insecurity (high).

7Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,569 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #829 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 4,226 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 2,382.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 4847406

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 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.

Safety96#665/15,637
Economy0#15,570/15,631
Housing30#10,512/14,977
Health29#11,087/15,609
Healthcare0#15,639/15,650
Environment20#12,417/15,453
Education16#13,134/15,649
Infrastructure5#14,918/15,650
Community5#14,891/15,651
Leisure & amenities14#13,412/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Natural hazard risk · low0.9
100/100Texas 39.62025Federal Emergency Management AgencyZapata County value
Suicide rate · low0.0 /100k
100/100Texas 14.4 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100k2024Centers for Disease Control and PreventionZapata County value
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Texas 13.4 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataZapata County value
Property crime rate · low255 /100k
98/100Texas 1,786 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationZapata County value
Violent crime rate · low51 /100k
97/100Texas 345 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationZapata County value
Job growth · high3.7%
96/100Texas 0.6%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataZapata County value

Weaknesses

Lack of reliable transportation · high25.6%
0/100Texas 10.5%United States 8.3%2022Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high44.8%
0/100Texas 19.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Food insecurity · high52.7%
0/100Texas 19.4%United States 15.6%2022Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Physical inactivity · high52.3%
0/100Texas 29.6%United States 26.5%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Hot days · high189 days
0/100Texas 111 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationZapata County value
Poor or fair health · high45.6%
0/100Texas 23.2%United States 19.9%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
4,727 (2015-2019) → 4,226 (2020-2024)
−11%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
59.5% (2015-2019) → 85.1% (2020-2024)
+26 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.6× (2015-2019) → 3.0× (2020-2024)
+86%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateImproving
73.7% (2015-2019) → 64.0% (2020-2024)
−9.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateImproving
61.2% (2015-2019) → 53.8% (2020-2024)
−7.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Unemployment rateImproving
16.5% (2015-2019) → 10.1% (2020-2024)
−6.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

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, Medina, Texas improved on 1 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 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+26 points59.5% → 85.1%

Declined1

Rent / income+2.5 points48.5% → 51.0%

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Medina, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	20.7 min2015-2019	21.7 min2020-2024	+1.1 min	Within the margin of error	35%
Broadband subscriptions	59.5%2015-2019	85.1%2020-2024	+26 points	Improved	96%
Child poverty rate	73.7%2015-2019	64.0%2020-2024	−9.7 points	Within the margin of error	81%
High school diploma or higher	50.9%2015-2019	53.7%2020-2024	+2.7 points	Within the margin of error	66%
Home price to income ratio	1.6×2015-2019	3.0×2020-2024	+1.4×	Within the margin of error	11%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4882015-2019	0.5752020-2024	+0.087	Within the margin of error	6%
Median household income	$29,9582015-2019	$21,5062020-2024	−28%	Within the margin of error	0%
Poverty rate	61.2%2015-2019	53.8%2020-2024	−7.4 points	Within the margin of error	88%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	48.5%2015-2019	51.0%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Declined	36%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	38.7%2015-2019	44.8%2020-2024	+6.1 points	Within the margin of error	8%

“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 Medina, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Medina, 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, Medina, Texas itself moved −5.8 points in standing on average over the same 7 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

4,226 residents (±794)

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

1,185 households (±219)

Medina, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k55%†657
$25k–50k21%†253
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,185 households (±219)

Medina, Texas
Texas share

Own70%827
Rent30%†358

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

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,676 workers (±368)

Medina, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone78%1,305
Carpool15%†245
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 Zapata, 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 Zapata County, the county holding most of Medina's residents.

Zapata County has 143 employer establishments, 104 for every 10,000 residents (0.42× the US rate of 248; 0.48× Texas's), with 1,758 paid employees at an average annual pay of $30,974. The Census Bureau also counts 1,752 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 143; 1,752 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 104; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 1,758
Average annual pay: $30,974; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	15	10.9	0.59×Fewer than typical	177	$14,503	30
Ambulatory health care services	12	8.7	0.42×Fewer than typical	424	$18,776	46
Gasoline stations	8	5.8	1.79×Too few to compare	58	$20,017	—
General merchandise stores	8	5.8	3.29×Too few to compare	45	$21,778	6
Full-service restaurants	7	5.1	0.66×Too few to compare	65	$11,185	19
Limited-service restaurants	7	5.1	0.63×Too few to compare	109	$16,661	5
Grocery and convenience stores	6	4.4	1.47×Too few to compare	105	$21,276	7
Offices of other health practitioners	5	3.6	0.60×Too few to compare	23	$29,739	16
Specialty trade contractors	5	3.6	0.23×Too few to compare	29	$52,517	203
Individual and family services	4	2.9	1.04×Too few to compare	142	$13,380	8
Traveler accommodation	4	2.9	1.61×Too few to compare	20	$19,500	4
Amusement, gambling and recreation industries	3	2.2	0.82×Too few to compare	5	$20,000	11

Rank places for an industry Open Zapata County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 13,765 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: Medina is mostly in Zapata County.

See federal money in Zapata 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.

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

House

Henry CuellarD-TX-28 · 100% of residentsWith party 65%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.

Zapata County9100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Zapata, TX11

Other cities and towns in Zapata 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
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/4847406

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends