City · Milam County, Texas

Thorndale, Texas

Thorndale is a city in Milam County, Texas, part of the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX metro area. It has 1,113 residents. Thorndale, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 17 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,060 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #579 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on new homes permitted (high), child care cost burden (low) and students per teacher (low). It ranks worst on primary care physicians (low), distance to an emergency room (high) and traffic deaths (high).

17Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,060 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #579 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 1,113 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,156.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 4872776

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.

Safety41#9,274/15,637
Economy33#10,429/15,631
Housing46#8,086/14,977
Health39#9,548/15,609
Healthcare1#15,546/15,650
Environment64#5,612/15,453
Education25#11,791/15,649
Infrastructure25#11,767/15,650
Community16#13,139/15,651
Leisure & amenities4#15,100/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

New homes permitted · high30.5 /1k
98/100Texas 6.3 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Child care cost burden · low22.4%
87/100Texas 24.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMilam County value
Students per teacher · low11.8×
86/100Texas 15.0×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsMilam County value
Comfortable days · high31.5%
85/100Texas 30.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationMilam County value
Natural hazard risk · low9.3
84/100Texas 39.62025Federal Emergency Management AgencyMilam County value
Drug overdose deaths · low9.5 /100k
83/100Texas 13.4 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataMilam County value

Weaknesses

Primary care physicians · low8 /100k
1/100Texas 61 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMilam County value
Distance to an emergency room · high22.0 mi
2/100Texas 5.5 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMilam County value
Traffic deaths · high42.2 /100k
3/100Texas 14.1 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataMilam County value
Mental health providers · low34 /100k
3/100Texas 181 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMilam County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high23.7%
4/100Texas 19.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Dentists · low19 /100k
4/100Texas 63 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMilam County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
1,407 (2015-2019) → 1,113 (2020-2024)
−21%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedImproving
10.9 /1k (2021) → 30.5 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+181%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
61.7% (2015-2019) → 85.0% (2020-2024)
+23 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.5× (2015-2019) → 2.9× (2020-2024)
+93%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
28.6% (2015-2019) → 44.6% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
10.2% (2015-2019) → 23.7% (2020-2024)
+13 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, Thorndale, Texas improved on 1 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 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+23 points61.7% → 85.0%

Declined1

Uninsured+13 points10.2% → 23.7%

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Thorndale, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	31.5 min2015-2019	22.8 min2020-2024	−8.7 min	Within the margin of error	97%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.7%2015-2019	24.8%2020-2024	+1.1 points	Within the margin of error	35%
Broadband subscriptions	61.7%2015-2019	85.0%2020-2024	+23 points	Improved	94%
Effective property tax rate	1.47%2015-2019	1.43%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	24%
High school diploma or higher	79.8%2015-2019	92.4%2020-2024	+13 points	Within the margin of error	98%
Home price to income ratio	1.5×2015-2019	2.9×2020-2024	+1.4×	Within the margin of error	11%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4202015-2019	0.4452020-2024	+0.025	Within the margin of error	30%
Median household income	$58,9172015-2019	$64,0132020-2024	+8.6%	Within the margin of error	15%
Poverty rate	9.6%2015-2019	9.9%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	40%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.2%2015-2019	23.7%2020-2024	+13 points	Declined	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 Thorndale, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Thorndale, 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, Thorndale, Texas itself moved +2.1 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

1,113 residents (±327)

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

527 households (±158)

Thorndale, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k24%†129
$25k–50k16%†86
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

527 households (±158)

Thorndale, Texas
Texas share

Own60%†317
Rent40%†210

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−11.1 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

557 workers (±195)

Thorndale, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone87%†482
Carpool2.5%†14
Public transit0.0%

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 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, 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 Milam County, the county holding most of Thorndale's residents.

Milam County has 452 employer establishments, 173 for every 10,000 residents (0.70× the US rate of 248; 0.79× Texas's), with 4,663 paid employees at an average annual pay of $49,713. The Census Bureau also counts 2,188 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 452; 2,188 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 173; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 4,663
Average annual pay: $49,713; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	43	16.5	1.07×About typical	529	$59,605	319
Restaurants and other eating places	34	13	0.71×Fewer than typical	462	$19,545	20
Ambulatory health care services	24	9.2	0.44×Fewer than typical	181	$53,144	52
Religious organizations	20	7.7	1.38×More than typical	96	$20,156	—
Building equipment contractors	18	6.9	1.15×About typical	88	$49,682	73
Limited-service restaurants	17	6.5	0.81×About typical	264	$18,864	10
Automotive repair and maintenance	16	6.1	1.22×About typical	64	$47,000	60
Construction of buildings	16	6.1	0.81×About typical	393	$77,534	122
Lessors of real estate	15	5.8	0.47×Fewer than typical	33	$47,394	146
Full-service restaurants	14	5.4	0.70×Fewer than typical	178	$20,989	7
Insurance agencies and brokerages	12	4.6	1.05×About typical	32	$36,781	25
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors	12	4.6	1.39×More than typical	63	$52,238	27

Rank places for an industry Open Milam County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 26,064 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: Thorndale is mostly in Milam County.

See federal money in Milam 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.

Thorndale, Texas is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Milam County20100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX68

Other cities and towns in Milam 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/4872776

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends