Town · Freestone County, Texas

Wortham, Texas

Wortham is a town in Freestone County, Texas. It has 1,160 residents. Wortham, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 11 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,852 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #695 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on job growth (high), homicide rate (low) and natural hazard risk (low). It ranks worst on traffic deaths (high), broadband subscriptions (low) and mental health providers (low).

11Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,852 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #695 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 1,160 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 583.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 4880296

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.

Safety60#6,329/15,637
Economy31#10,860/15,631
Housing37#9,509/14,977
Health25#11,731/15,609
Healthcare1#15,483/15,650
Environment55#6,972/15,453
Education10#14,120/15,649
Infrastructure3#15,240/15,650
Community15#13,328/15,651
Leisure & amenities21#12,332/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Job growth · high6.2%
99/100Texas 0.6%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataFreestone County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Texas 5.1 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataFreestone County value
Natural hazard risk · low5.7
91/100Texas 39.62025Federal Emergency Management AgencyFreestone County value
Gyms and fitness centers · high1.9 /10k
87/100Texas 1.2 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsFreestone County value
Property crime rate · low537 /100k
87/100Texas 1,786 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationFreestone County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low122 min
86/100Texas 149 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesFreestone County value

Weaknesses

Traffic deaths · high58.8 /100k
1/100Texas 14.1 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataFreestone County value
Broadband subscriptions · low72.1%
1/100Texas 91.3%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Mental health providers · low24 /100k
1/100Texas 181 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteFreestone County value
Bachelor's degree or higher · low6.2%
2/100Texas 33.8%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Pharmacies · low0.5 /10k
3/100Texas 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsFreestone County value
Restaurants and bars · low3.8 /10k
4/100Texas 7.8 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsFreestone County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,071 (2015-2019) → 1,160 (2020-2024)
+8.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
49.8% (2015-2019) → 20.4% (2020-2024)
−29 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateImproving
28.4% (2015-2019) → 12.9% (2020-2024)
−15 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
52.9% (2015-2019) → 40.9% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
64.0% (2015-2019) → 72.1% (2020-2024)
+8.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
13.2% (2015-2019) → 6.2% (2020-2024)
−7 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

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, Wortham, Texas improved on 0 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 11 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

Bachelor's+−7 points13.2% → 6.2%

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Wortham, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	24.8 min2015-2019	24.0 min2020-2024	−0.8 min	Within the margin of error	57%
Bachelor's degree or higher	13.2%2015-2019	6.2%2020-2024	−7 points	Declined	4%
Broadband subscriptions	64.0%2015-2019	72.1%2020-2024	+8.1 points	Within the margin of error	50%
Effective property tax rate	1.11%2015-2019	1.02%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	32%
High school diploma or higher	83.4%2015-2019	79.5%2020-2024	−3.8 points	Within the margin of error	8%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	2.8×2020-2024	+0.5×	Within the margin of error	51%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4092015-2019	0.4422020-2024	+0.033	Within the margin of error	25%
Median household income	$35,7952015-2019	$46,3162020-2024	+29%	Within the margin of error	54%
Poverty rate	28.4%2015-2019	12.9%2020-2024	−15 points	Within the margin of error	98%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	31.4%2015-2019	28.1%2020-2024	−3.3 points	Within the margin of error	75%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	21.2%2015-2019	20.7%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	53%

“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 Wortham, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Wortham, 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, Wortham, Texas itself moved −3.3 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

1,160 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

458 households (±111)

Wortham, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k28%†127
$25k–50k24%†111
$50k–75k29%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

458 households (±111)

Wortham, Texas
Texas share

Own47%215
Rent53%†243

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

406 workers (±107)

Wortham, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone88%357
Carpool4.7%†19
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 Freestone County, the county holding most of Wortham's residents.

Freestone County has 362 employer establishments, 178 for every 10,000 residents (0.72× the US rate of 248; 0.81× Texas's), with 3,144 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,973. The Census Bureau also counts 1,586 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 362; 1,586 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 178; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 3,144
Average annual pay: $44,973; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	29	14.2	0.78×Fewer than typical	523	$18,296	11
Religious organizations	22	10.8	1.95×More than typical	101	$17,970	—
Specialty trade contractors	19	9.3	0.60×Fewer than typical	110	$49,955	181
Limited-service restaurants	15	7.4	0.92×About typical	252	$18,798	5
Ambulatory health care services	13	6.4	0.31×Fewer than typical	95	$48,674	72
Automotive repair and maintenance	13	6.4	1.27×More than typical	55	$50,218	38
Full-service restaurants	11	5.4	0.70×Fewer than typical	267	$17,596	4
Services to buildings and dwellings	11	5.4	0.80×About typical	81	$18,000	139
Banks and credit unions	10	4.9	1.52×More than typical	57	$51,737	—
Lessors of real estate	10	4.9	0.40×Fewer than typical	21	$24,810	92
Insurance agencies and brokerages	9	4.4	1.01×Too few to compare	24	$49,417	28
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	8	3.9	0.97×Too few to compare	13	$29,231	28

Rank places for an industry Open Freestone County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 20,361 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Wortham, Texas: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

1.5KFY2023
0FY2024

What was bought

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

Wortham, Texas's figures are part of those of Freestone County, TX ($195.2K in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Freestone 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.

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

House

Senate

County

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

Freestone County19100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Freestone 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/4880296

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends