Town · Cooke County, Texas

Road Runner, Texas

Road Runner is a town in Cooke County, Texas, part of the Gainesville, TX metro area. It has 1,021 residents. Road Runner, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 15 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,271 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #611 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on unemployment rate (low), child care cost burden (low) and distance to an Amtrak station (low). It ranks worst on bachelor's degree or higher (low), uninsured residents (under 65) (high) and high school diploma or higher (low).

15Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,271 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #611 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 1,021 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,710.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 4862486

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.

Safety45#8,557/15,637
Economy46#8,515/15,631
Housing38#9,277/14,977
Health43#8,868/15,609
Healthcare7#14,573/15,650
Environment29#11,032/15,453
Education12#13,783/15,649
Infrastructure29#11,042/15,650
Community25#11,813/15,651
Leisure & amenities11#13,969/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Unemployment rate · low0.0%
98/100Texas 4.2%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025
Child care cost burden · low19.5%
95/100Texas 24.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCooke County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · low6 mi
93/100Texas 43 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauCooke County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low112 min
92/100Texas 149 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCooke County value
Hospital quality rating · high4.0
80/100Texas 3.4United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCooke County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.330
79/100Texas 0.478United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083

Weaknesses

Bachelor's degree or higher · low1.2%
0/100Texas 33.8%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003High uncertainty
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high49.8%
1/100Texas 19.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
High school diploma or higher · low38.9%
6/100Texas 86.0%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Traffic deaths · high30.2 /100k
7/100Texas 14.1 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataCooke County value
Median household income · low$43,224
9/100Texas $79,723United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Mental health providers · low70 /100k
9/100Texas 181 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCooke County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
264 (2016-2020) → 1,021 (2020-2024)
+287%4 yearsCensus table B01003US 331,578,104 → 340,003,797
High school diploma or higherWorsening
88.0% (2016-2020) → 38.9% (2020-2024)
−49 pts4 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.5% → 89.6%
Poverty rateWorsening
0.0% (2016-2020) → 37.3% (2020-2024)
+37 pts4 yearsCensus table B17001US 11.9% → 12.1%
Broadband subscriptionsWorsening
100.0% (2016-2020) → 63.7% (2020-2024)
−36 pts4 yearsCensus table B28002US 85.2% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
100.0% (2017-2021) → 65.2% (2020-2024)
−35 pts3 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.9% → 15.5%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
28.7% (2016-2020) → 49.8% (2020-2024)
+21 pts4 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.4% → 9.8%

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.

There is not enough history to compare Road Runner, Texas over five years.

Cities and towns like Road Runner, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Road Runner, 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.

No place that looked like Road Runner, Texas five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

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

1,021 residents (±318)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

1,021 residents (±318)

Road Runner, Texas
Texas share

White31%†315
Black1.4%†14
Hispanic or Latino67%†685

Education

653 residents (±257)

Road Runner, Texas
Texas share

No high school diploma61%†399
High school or GED22%†142
Some college13%†85

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

311 households (±110)

Road Runner, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k24%†74
$25k–50k40%†125
$50k–75k23%†72
$75k–100k5.8%†18
$100k–150k3.9%†12
$150k–200k3.2%†10
$200k or more0.0%0

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

311 households (±110)

Road Runner, Texas
Texas share

Own54%†168
Rent46%†143

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

131 households (±100)

Road Runner, Texas
Texas share

Under $7500.0%0
$750–1,00072%†94
$1,000–1,5006.1%†8

Home values

168 homes (±79)

Road Runner, Texas
Texas share

Under $150k61%†102
$150k–250k13%†22
$250k–400k6.5%†11

Age of homes

356 homes (±121)

Road Runner, Texas
Texas share

2010 or later13%†45
2000–200923%†81
1980–199945%†160

Size of homes

356 homes (±121)

Road Runner, Texas
Texas share

Studio1.4%†5
1 bedroom1.4%†5
2 bedrooms29%†102

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

349 workers (±146)

Road Runner, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone96%†335
Carpool0.0%0
Public transit0.0%0
Walk0.9%†3
Bike0.0%0
Work from home3.2%†11
Other0.0%0

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

338 workers (±148)

Road Runner, Texas
Texas share

Under 15 min8.3%†28
15–29 min17%†56
30–44 min43%†146

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 Gainesville, 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 Cooke County, the county holding most of Road Runner's residents.

Cooke County has 1,040 employer establishments, 238 for every 10,000 residents (0.96× the US rate of 248; 1.09× Texas's), with 13,433 paid employees at an average annual pay of $52,817. The Census Bureau also counts 4,426 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,040; 4,426 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 238; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 13,433
Average annual pay: $52,817; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	84	19.2	1.24×About typical	487	$54,639	553
Restaurants and other eating places	81	18.5	1.01×About typical	1,885	$21,201	23
Ambulatory health care services	66	15.1	0.72×Fewer than typical	410	$49,771	133
Building equipment contractors	41	9.4	1.56×More than typical	173	$52,503	94
Full-service restaurants	35	8	1.04×About typical	615	$21,268	10
Limited-service restaurants	35	8	1.00×About typical	1,167	$21,215	6
Religious organizations	35	8	1.44×More than typical	189	$21,513	—
Lessors of real estate	32	7.3	0.59×Fewer than typical	66	$33,136	406
Automotive repair and maintenance	29	6.6	1.32×More than typical	173	$49,064	87
Construction of buildings	28	6.4	0.85×About typical	54	$59,815	165
Other specialty trade contractors	25	5.7	2.28×More than typical	159	$49,774	224
Gasoline stations	24	5.5	1.69×More than typical	246	$27,541	—

Rank places for an industry Open Cooke County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 43,773 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: Road Runner is mostly in Cooke County.

See federal money in Cooke 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.

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

House

Brandon GillR-TX-26 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 2.1%

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.

Cooke County38100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Gainesville, TX30

Other cities and towns in Cooke 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

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