Metro area · Texas

Abilene, TX metro area

Abilene, TX is a metropolitan area of 3 counties in Texas, home to 185,429 residents. Abilene, TX metro area has a quality-of-life score of 37 out of 100 (low), ranking #584 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in Texas it ranks #15 of 67. It ranks best on new homes permitted (high), job growth (high) and child care cost burden (low). It ranks worst on distance to an airport (high), hot days (high) and grocery stores (low).

37Low
Quality-of-life score
#584 of 925 metro and micro areas
Texas
#15 of 67 in TX
Population
185,429 (2025)
Land area
2,744 mi²
Density
67.6 /mi²
CBSA code
10180

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 66 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of Abilene, TX metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety15#781/924
  • Economy66#315/925
  • Housing51#455/925
  • Health41#548/925
  • Healthcare12#813/923
  • Environment63#340/917
  • Education47#489/925
  • Infrastructure61#359/925
  • Community36#593/925
  • Leisure & amenities26#681/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Abilene, TX metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

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.

Metro and micro areas like Abilene, TX metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Abilene, TX metro area 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.

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).

Income

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

Homes

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

Getting to work

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

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

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.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in Abilene, TX

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. Taylor CountyCentral county44150,077
  2. Jones CountyOutlying county820,861
  3. Callahan CountyOutlying county4114,491

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. AbilenePrincipal city128,053

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. Abilene128,053
  2. Potosi4,322
  3. Clyde3,954
  4. Stamford2,917
  5. Merkel2,699
  6. Anson2,531
  7. Hamlin2,011
  8. Baird1,642
  9. Cross Plains1,019
  10. Tuscola990
  11. Tye936
  12. Hawley572
  13. Buffalo Gap534
  14. Lawn280
  15. Trent280
  16. Lueders271
  17. Impact13
  18. Putnam9

Other metro and micro areas in Texas

Areas based in Texas, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

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.

JSON · /api/v1/places/M10180