City · Jim Wells County, Texas

Premont, Texas

Premont is a city in Jim Wells County, Texas, part of the Alice, TX metro area. It has 2,428 residents. Premont, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 3 out of 100 (very low), ranking #15,156 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #960 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on home price to income ratio (low), rent-burdened households (low) and grocery stores (high). It ranks worst on uninsured residents (under 65) (high), hot days (high) and physical inactivity (high).

3Very low

Quality-of-life score: #15,156 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #960 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 2,428 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,433.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 4859384

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 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.

Safety12#13,734/15,637
Economy2#15,338/15,631
Housing84#2,374/14,977
Health18#12,763/15,609
Healthcare1#15,498/15,650
Environment11#13,763/15,453
Education4#15,019/15,649
Infrastructure15#13,371/15,650
Community1#15,548/15,651
Leisure & amenities28#11,277/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Home price to income ratio · low1.9×
94/100Texas 3.6×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Rent-burdened households · low25.5%
93/100Texas 51.7%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Grocery stores · high2.3 /10k
83/100Texas 1.1 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsJim Wells County value
Average commute time · low12.1 min
83/100Texas 26.7 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Drug overdose deaths · low9.6 /100k
83/100Texas 13.4 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataJim Wells County value
Rent as share of income · low18.1%
81/100Texas 30.9%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071

Weaknesses

Uninsured residents (under 65) · high41.2%
1/100Texas 19.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Hot days · high159 days
1/100Texas 111 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationJim Wells County value
Physical inactivity · high43.7%
1/100Texas 29.6%United States 26.5%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Poor or fair health · high35.9%
2/100Texas 23.2%United States 19.9%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Food insecurity · high39.0%
3/100Texas 19.4%United States 15.6%2022Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Primary care shortage · high19.0
3/100Texas 5.5United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationJim Wells County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,580 (2015-2019) → 2,428 (2020-2024)
−5.9%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.1× (2015-2019) → 1.9× (2020-2024)
+73%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateWorsening
21.5% (2015-2019) → 35.2% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
27.5% (2015-2019) → 41.2% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
High school diploma or higherWorsening
71.3% (2015-2019) → 59.2% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Average commute timeImproving
23.1 min (2015-2019) → 12.1 min (2020-2024)
−47%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min

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, Premont, Texas improved on 0 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined1

Price / income+0.8×1.1× → 1.9×

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Premont, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	23.1 min2015-2019	12.1 min2020-2024	−11.0 min	Within the margin of error	99%
Broadband subscriptions	66.8%2015-2019	75.1%2020-2024	+8.3 points	Within the margin of error	51%
Effective property tax rate	1.75%2015-2019	1.16%2020-2024	−0.6 points	Within the margin of error	94%
High school diploma or higher	71.3%2015-2019	59.2%2020-2024	−12 points	Within the margin of error	1%
Home price to income ratio	1.1×2015-2019	1.9×2020-2024	+0.8×	Declined	31%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4042015-2019	0.3372020-2024	−0.066	Within the margin of error	89%
Median household income	$47,8792015-2019	$47,7282020-2024	−0.3%	Within the margin of error	7%
Poverty rate	20.4%2015-2019	27.9%2020-2024	+7.4 points	Within the margin of error	7%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	20.0%2015-2019	18.1%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	27.5%2015-2019	41.2%2020-2024	+14 points	Within the margin of error	1%

“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 Premont, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Premont, 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, Premont, Texas itself moved +6.2 points in standing on average over the same 8 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

2,428 residents (±605)

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

910 households (±245)

Premont, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k27%†243
$25k–50k48%†441
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

910 households (±245)

Premont, Texas
Texas share

Own58%†532
Rent42%†378

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−22.8 points).

† 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

923 workers (±363)

Premont, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone67%†621
Carpool28%†254
Public transit

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 Alice, 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 Jim Wells County, the county holding most of Premont's residents.

Jim Wells County has 783 employer establishments, 202 for every 10,000 residents (0.81× the US rate of 248; 0.92× Texas's), with 12,790 paid employees at an average annual pay of $37,009. The Census Bureau also counts 3,403 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 783; 3,403 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 202; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 12,790
Average annual pay: $37,009; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	69	17.8	0.85×About typical	4,320	$20,481	130
Restaurants and other eating places	65	16.8	0.91×About typical	1,112	$17,566	37
Specialty trade contractors	38	9.8	0.63×Fewer than typical	309	$54,065	345
Limited-service restaurants	30	7.7	0.96×About typical	699	$17,064	9
Full-service restaurants	29	7.5	0.97×About typical	359	$18,565	20
Truck transportation	22	5.7	1.12×About typical	186	$40,780	158
Gasoline stations	21	5.4	1.67×More than typical	232	$22,224	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	20	5.2	1.17×About typical	135	$72,000	51
Offices of physicians	19	4.9	0.76×Fewer than typical	216	$61,384	7
Religious organizations	19	4.9	0.88×About typical	87	$20,644	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	18	4.6	0.92×About typical	71	$26,338	95
Building equipment contractors	18	4.6	0.77×Fewer than typical	174	$53,000	57

Rank places for an industry Open Jim Wells County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 38,766 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 $268 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Premont, Texas: $0.11 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $268; −99% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.11; US $1,994
Sole-source: 100%; 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

Defense Information Systems Agency$268100%

Top recipients

AT&T ENTERPRISES, LLC$268100%
BAE SYSTEMS AUSTRALIA LIMITED$00.0%

Spending by fiscal year

0FY2017
3KFY2018
71.5KFY2021
889FY2022
8.2KFY2023
-93.3FY2024
26.1KFY2025
267.7FY2026

Top industries (NAICS)

Wired telecommunications carriers · 5171$268100%

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

Premont, Texas's figures are part of those of Jim Wells County, TX ($154.6K in FY2026), never added to them: 0.2% of that total.

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

See federal money in Jim Wells 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.

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

House

Monica De La CruzR-TX-15 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 5.9%

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.

Jim Wells County1100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Alice, TX0

Other cities and towns in Jim Wells 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/4859384

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends