City · Lubbock County, Texas

Slaton, Texas

Slaton is a city in Lubbock County, Texas, part of the Lubbock, TX metro area. It has 5,761 residents. Slaton, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 12 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,710 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #673 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on home price to income ratio (low), median Air Quality Index (low) and distance to an emergency room (low). It ranks worst on distance to an Amtrak station (high), violent crime rate (high) and physical inactivity (high).

12Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,710 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #673 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 5,761 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 1,061.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 4868180

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 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.

Safety7#14,539/15,637
Economy23#12,098/15,631
Housing47#7,885/14,977
Health19#12,699/15,609
Healthcare33#10,411/15,650
Environment56#6,821/15,453
Education16#13,071/15,649
Infrastructure13#13,548/15,650
Community14#13,529/15,651
Leisure & amenities40#9,327/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Slaton, Texas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Lubbock 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 · low1.5×
99/100Texas 3.6×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Median Air Quality Index · low24
97/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyLubbock County value
Distance to an emergency room · low3.1 mi
91/100Texas 5.5 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesLubbock County value
Distance to an airport · low10 mi
91/100Texas 33 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauLubbock County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low6.2 µg/m³
86/100Texas 8.9 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyLubbock County value
Comfortable days · high30.4%
80/100Texas 30.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationLubbock County value

Weaknesses

Distance to an Amtrak station · high234 mi
2/100Texas 43 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauLubbock County value
Violent crime rate · high619 /100k
4/100Texas 345 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationLubbock County value
Physical inactivity · high37.1%
5/100Texas 29.6%United States 26.5%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Bachelor's degree or higher · low9.4%
6/100Texas 33.8%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high19.8%
6/100Texas 19.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Poor or fair health · high29.2%
7/100Texas 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.

New homes permittedWorsening
0.8 /1k (2021) → 0.3 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−59%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
52.2% (2015-2019) → 40.7% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$36,295 (2015-2019) → $56,676 (2020-2024)
+56%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
12.9% (2015-2019) → 19.8% (2020-2024)
+6.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
15.9% (2015-2019) → 9.4% (2020-2024)
−6.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
30.5% (2015-2019) → 24.5% (2020-2024)
−6 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, Slaton, Texas improved on 1 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 13 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

Household income+56%$36,295 → $56,676

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Slaton, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.6 min2015-2019	20.8 min2020-2024	+3.2 min	Within the margin of error	19%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.9%2015-2019	9.4%2020-2024	−6.5 points	Within the margin of error	5%
Broadband subscriptions	85.5%2015-2019	84.5%2020-2024	−1 points	Within the margin of error	6%
Child poverty rate	27.4%2015-2019	25.7%2020-2024	−1.7 points	Within the margin of error	54%
Effective property tax rate	1.54%2015-2019	1.58%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	10%
High school diploma or higher	82.2%2015-2019	85.1%2020-2024	+2.9 points	Within the margin of error	67%
Home price to income ratio	2.0×2015-2019	1.5×2020-2024	−0.5×	Within the margin of error	94%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4392015-2019	0.3962020-2024	−0.043	Within the margin of error	81%
Median household income	$36,2952015-2019	$56,6762020-2024	+56%	Improved	89%
Poverty rate	17.2%2015-2019	15.7%2020-2024	−1.5 points	Within the margin of error	58%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	30.5%2015-2019	24.5%2020-2024	−6 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Rent-burdened households	52.2%2015-2019	40.7%2020-2024	−12 points	Within the margin of error	85%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.9%2015-2019	19.8%2020-2024	+6.9 points	Within the margin of error	6%

“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 Slaton, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Slaton, 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, Slaton, Texas itself moved +5 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

5,761 residents (±25)

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

2,065 households (±247)

Slaton, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k16%†322
$25k–50k23%†471
$50k–75k28%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,065 households (±247)

Slaton, Texas
Texas share

Own79%1,635
Rent21%430

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+15.3 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,267 workers (±388)

Slaton, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone83%1,888
Carpool7.6%†173
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 Lubbock, 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 Lubbock County, the county holding most of Slaton's residents.

Lubbock County has 8,019 employer establishments, 249 for every 10,000 residents (1.00× the US rate of 248; 1.14× Texas's), with 124,049 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,771. The Census Bureau also counts 28,401 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 8,019; 28,401 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 249; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 124,049
Average annual pay: $47,771; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	698	21.7	1.04×About typical	9,590	$63,612	1,245
Restaurants and other eating places	630	19.6	1.07×About typical	16,289	$19,734	108
Specialty trade contractors	547	17	1.10×About typical	4,867	$58,435	2,586
Lessors of real estate	458	14.2	1.16×About typical	1,725	$49,051	3,091
Limited-service restaurants	314	9.8	1.22×About typical	8,121	$19,193	40
Offices of physicians	280	8.7	1.35×More than typical	3,856	$90,609	326
Building equipment contractors	251	7.8	1.30×More than typical	2,686	$58,757	425
Construction of buildings	243	7.6	1.00×About typical	1,697	$73,229	936
Automotive repair and maintenance	213	6.6	1.32×More than typical	1,863	$44,640	487
Full-service restaurants	213	6.6	0.86×About typical	6,596	$21,350	39
Insurance agencies and brokerages	206	6.4	1.46×More than typical	1,047	$67,477	591
Religious organizations	186	5.8	1.04×About typical	2,328	$23,844	—

Rank places for an industry Open Lubbock County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 321,411 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 $343K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Slaton, Texas: $59.54 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $343K; +96% vs FY2025
Per resident: $59.54; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; 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

Departmental Offices$343K100%

Top recipients

G B AERIAL APPLICATIONS INC$343K100%

Spending by fiscal year

27.1KFY2022
18.7KFY2023
42.1KFY2024
175.3KFY2025
343KFY2026

What was bought

Facilities & utilities$343K100%

Top industries (NAICS)

Support activities for forestry · 1153$343K100%

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

Slaton, Texas's figures are part of those of Lubbock County, TX ($21.3M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.6% of that total.

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

See federal money in Lubbock 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.

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

House

Jodey C. ArringtonR-TX-19 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 3.3%

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.

Lubbock County41100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Lubbock, TX37

Other cities and towns in Lubbock 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/4868180

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends