City · Sherman County, Texas

Stratford, Texas

Stratford is a city in Sherman County, Texas. It has 1,326 residents. Stratford, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 50 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #7,896 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #133 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on suicide rate (low), firearm deaths (low) and rent as share of income (low). It ranks worst on traffic deaths (high), dentists (low) and new business applications (low).

50Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #7,896 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #133 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 1,326 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 574.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 4870544

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 67 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.

Safety82#2,869/15,637
Economy27#11,448/15,631
Housing72#4,231/14,977
Health72#4,354/15,609
Healthcare6#14,753/15,650
Environment67#5,148/15,453
Education52#7,480/15,649
Infrastructure38#9,708/15,650
Community50#7,814/15,651
Leisure & amenities29#11,108/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Suicide rate · low0.0 /100k
100/100Texas 14.4 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSherman County value
Firearm deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Texas 13.7 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSherman County value
Rent as share of income · low18.3%
99/100Texas 30.9%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Texas 13.4 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100k2024Centers for Disease Control and PreventionSherman County value
Grocery stores · high3.6 /10k
97/100Texas 1.1 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSherman County value
Public libraries · high3.6 /10k
97/100Texas 0.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesSherman County value

Weaknesses

Traffic deaths · high115.9 /100k
0/100Texas 14.1 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataSherman County value
Dentists · low0 /100k
0/100Texas 63 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSherman County value
New business applications · low6.1 /1k
1/100Texas 17.2 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauSherman County value
Distance to an emergency room · high29.8 mi
1/100Texas 5.5 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesSherman County value
Pharmacies · low0.0 /10k
1/100Texas 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSherman County value
Distance to an airport · high185 mi
1/100Texas 33 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSherman County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
1,951 (2015-2019) → 1,326 (2020-2024)
−32%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
31.1% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−31 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
28.7% (2015-2019) → 2.2% (2020-2024)
−26 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.0% (2015-2019) → 96.0% (2020-2024)
+18 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
15.9% (2015-2019) → 31.9% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
26.3% (2015-2019) → 14.9% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 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.

Over about five years, Stratford, Texas improved on 4 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 8 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.

Improved4

Uninsured−11 points26.3% → 14.9%
Bachelor's++16 points15.9% → 31.9%
Poverty−8.4 points16.5% → 8.1%
Broadband+18 points78.0% → 96.0%

Declined1

Inequality+0.1030.391 → 0.494

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Stratford, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	24.1 min2015-2019	17.2 min2020-2024	−6.8 min	Within the margin of error	95%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.9%2015-2019	31.9%2020-2024	+16 points	Improved	98%
Broadband subscriptions	78.0%2015-2019	96.0%2020-2024	+18 points	Improved	87%
Effective property tax rate	1.60%2015-2019	2.03%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	1%
High school diploma or higher	82.9%2015-2019	84.1%2020-2024	+1.1 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	2.6×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	55%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3912015-2019	0.4942020-2024	+0.103	Declined	4%
Median household income	$47,1432015-2019	$49,2862020-2024	+4.5%	Within the margin of error	11%
Poverty rate	16.5%2015-2019	8.1%2020-2024	−8.4 points	Improved	90%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	23.7%2015-2019	18.3%2020-2024	−5.4 points	Within the margin of error	84%
Rent-burdened households	31.1%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	−31 points	Within the margin of error	98%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	26.3%2015-2019	14.9%2020-2024	−11 points	Improved	97%

“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 Stratford, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Stratford, 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, Stratford, Texas itself moved +3.5 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

1,326 residents (±230)

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

496 households (±86)

Stratford, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k16%†81
$25k–50k34%†169
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

496 households (±86)

Stratford, Texas
Texas share

Own79%393
Rent21%†103

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

609 workers (±138)

Stratford, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone81%493
Carpool13%†81
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 Sherman County, the county holding most of Stratford's residents.

Sherman County has 60 employer establishments, 223 for every 10,000 residents (0.90× the US rate of 248; 1.02× Texas's), with 436 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,830. The Census Bureau also counts 243 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 60; 243 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 223; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 436
Average annual pay: $44,830; US $68,342

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

Truck transportation	7	26	5.13×Too few to compare	56	$80,286	36
Religious organizations	5	18.5	3.34×Too few to compare	10	$26,500	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	4	14.8	2.95×Too few to compare	6	$23,500	4
Construction of buildings	3	11.1	1.47×Too few to compare	2	$24,000	—
Gasoline stations	3	11.1	3.43×Too few to compare	74	$31,716	—
Specialty trade contractors	3	11.1	0.72×Too few to compare	7	$25,286	11
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	3
Advertising, public relations and related services	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	—
Ambulatory health care services	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	13
Amusement, gambling and recreation industries	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	—
Architectural, engineering and related services	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	—
Auto parts, accessories and tire stores	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	—

Rank places for an industry Open Sherman County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 2,696 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: Stratford is mostly in Sherman County.

See federal money in Sherman 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.

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

House

Ronny JacksonR-TX-13 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 2.7%

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.

Sherman County53100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Sherman County

Largest first.

Texhoma336

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/4870544

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends