City · Ward County, Texas

Monahans, Texas

Monahans is a city in Ward County, Texas. It has 7,452 residents. Monahans, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 26 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,618 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #394 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on drug overdose deaths (low), gyms and fitness centers (high) and effective property tax rate (low). It ranks worst on mammography screening (low), job growth (low) and traffic deaths (high).

26Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,618 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #394 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 7,452 (2020-2024)
Land area: 29 mi²
Density: 257.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 4848936

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.

Safety24#11,859/15,637
Economy45#8,587/15,631
Housing72#4,219/14,977
Health26#11,566/15,609
Healthcare3#15,213/15,650
Environment62#5,908/15,453
Education5#14,824/15,649
Infrastructure35#10,161/15,650
Community25#11,719/15,651
Leisure & amenities73#4,178/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Texas 13.4 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataWard County value
Gyms and fitness centers · high2.7 /10k
98/100Texas 1.2 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWard County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.28%
97/100Texas 1.40%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090High uncertainty
Public libraries · high2.7 /10k
95/100Texas 0.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesWard County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Texas 5.1 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataWard County value
Average weekly wage · high$1,651
91/100Texas $1,499United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWard County value

Weaknesses

Mammography screening · low20.0%
0/100Texas 42.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWard County value
Job growth · low-7.7%
0/100Texas 0.6%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataWard County value
Traffic deaths · high73.5 /100k
1/100Texas 14.1 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataWard County value
Mental health providers · low18 /100k
1/100Texas 181 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWard County value
Preventable hospital stays · high5,329 /100k
1/100Texas 2,991 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWard County value
Flu vaccinations · low21.0%
1/100Texas 40.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWard County value

Trends

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

Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.4× (2015-2019) → 2.3× (2020-2024)
+66%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
79.1% (2015-2019) → 91.8% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
17.8% (2015-2019) → 24.5% (2020-2024)
+6.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
29.4% (2015-2019) → 34.1% (2020-2024)
+4.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
18.3% (2015-2019) → 22.3% (2020-2024)
+4.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
20.5% (2015-2019) → 23.7% (2020-2024)
+3.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

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, Monahans, Texas improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 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 points79.1% → 91.8%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Monahans, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.8 min2015-2019	20.7 min2020-2024	−2.1 min	Within the margin of error	71%
Bachelor's degree or higher	13.9%2015-2019	12.2%2020-2024	−1.7 points	Within the margin of error	17%
Broadband subscriptions	79.1%2015-2019	91.8%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	72%
Child poverty rate	17.8%2015-2019	24.5%2020-2024	+6.7 points	Within the margin of error	17%
High school diploma or higher	79.0%2015-2019	76.6%2020-2024	−2.3 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Home price to income ratio	1.4×2015-2019	2.3×2020-2024	+0.9×	Within the margin of error	26%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3902015-2019	0.4262020-2024	+0.036	Within the margin of error	23%
Median household income	$64,8702015-2019	$70,6772020-2024	+9%	Within the margin of error	15%
Poverty rate	13.5%2015-2019	15.6%2020-2024	+2.1 points	Within the margin of error	26%
Rent as share of income	20.5%2015-2019	23.7%2020-2024	+3.2 points	Within the margin of error	32%
Rent-burdened households	29.4%2015-2019	34.1%2020-2024	+4.6 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	18.3%2015-2019	22.3%2020-2024	+4.1 points	Within the margin of error	14%

“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 Monahans, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Monahans, 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, Monahans, Texas itself moved −6.6 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

7,452 residents (±21)

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

2,873 households (±171)

Monahans, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k7.0%†202
$25k–50k27%†762
$50k–75k17%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,873 households (±171)

Monahans, Texas
Texas share

Own73%2,098
Rent27%775

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+7.9 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

3,611 workers (±229)

Monahans, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone86%3,093
Carpool11%†405
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 Ward County, the county holding most of Monahans's residents.

Ward County has 339 employer establishments, 309 for every 10,000 residents (1.24× the US rate of 248; 1.41× Texas's), with 4,718 paid employees at an average annual pay of $75,618. The Census Bureau also counts 924 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 339; 924 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 309; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 4,718
Average annual pay: $75,618; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	27	24.6	1.34×More than typical	302	$23,222	8
Truck transportation	23	21	4.14×More than typical	232	$84,009	95
Specialty trade contractors	16	14.6	0.94×About typical	409	$122,922	80
Full-service restaurants	14	12.8	1.66×More than typical	145	$24,083	3
Traveler accommodation	14	12.8	7.07×More than typical	162	$19,111	—
Gasoline stations	9	8.2	2.53×Too few to compare	264	$29,761	—
Other specialty trade contractors	9	8.2	3.27×Too few to compare	196	$108,495	27
Lessors of real estate	8	7.3	0.59×Too few to compare	47	$31,660	47
Management, scientific and technical consulting	8	7.3	1.09×Too few to compare	17	$77,471	19
Automotive repair and maintenance	7	6.4	1.27×Too few to compare	62	$53,677	31
Limited-service restaurants	7	6.4	0.80×Too few to compare	119	$24,748	5
Heavy and civil engineering construction	6	5.5	4.77×Too few to compare	171	$92,977	—

Rank places for an industry Open Ward County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 10,974 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 Monahans, 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

3.6KFY2017

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

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

See federal money in Ward 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.

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

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.

Ward County34100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Ward 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/4848936

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends

What changed in five years

Improved1

Declined0

Cities and towns like Monahans, Texas five years ago that improved

Who lives here

Age and sex

Income

Household income

Homes

Owners and renters

Getting to work

How people get to work

Local businesses

Federal contracts performed here

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

What was bought

How this is estimated

Representation in Congress

Senate

County

Other cities and towns in Ward County

Similar cities and towns

Data and sources

Improved1

Declined0

Age and sex

Household income

Owners and renters

How people get to work

Race and Hispanic origin

Education

Rent paid

Home values

Age of homes

Size of homes

Time to get to work

Senate

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

What was bought

How this is estimated