Scores by category

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

Safety17#768/924
Economy3#894/925
Housing55#414/925
Health34#615/925
Healthcare10#829/923
Environment64#332/917
Education2#903/925
Infrastructure19#749/925
Community41#543/925
Leisure & amenities16#774/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Strengths

Home price to income ratio · low2.1×
96/100Texas 3.6×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Social associations · high15.2 /10k
88/100Texas 7.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAggregated from counties
Injury deaths · low71 /100k
86/100Texas 69 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAggregated from counties
Comfortable days · high30.9%
84/100Texas 30.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationAggregated from counties
Pharmacies · high2.2 /10k
84/100Texas 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAggregated from counties
Average commute time · low19.4 min
83/100Texas 26.7 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013

Weaknesses

Dentists · low19 /100k
1/100Texas 63 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAggregated from counties
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high24.8%
1/100Texas 19.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Voter turnout · low44.9%
2/100Texas 57.8%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionAggregated from counties
High school diploma or higher · low74.7%
2/100Texas 86.0%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Distance to an Amtrak station · high223 mi
2/100Texas 43 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauAggregated from counties
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low1.4 /10k
2/100Texas 3.4 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAggregated from counties

Trends

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

Violent crime rateWorsening
201 /100k (2020) → 540 /100k (2025)
+169%5 yearsUS 389 /100k → 328 /100k
Drought exposureWorsening
55% (2021) → 76% (Oct 2025–Sep 2026)
+21 pts5 yearsUS 40% → 43%
New homes permittedWorsening
0.7 /1k (2021) → 0.1 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−88%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Flu vaccinationsWorsening
36.6% (2019) → 25.6% (2023)
−11 pts4 yearsUS 48.0% → 44.0%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
34.5% (2015-2019) → 44.0% (2020-2024)
+9.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateWorsening
19.0% (2015-2019) → 28.2% (2020-2024)
+9.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

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, Plainview, TX micropolitan area improved on 6 of 29 measures with a comparison and declined on 14. 5 moved within the margin of error and 4 barely changed.

Earlier period
Latest period
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among metro and micro areas: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts. Periods differ by measure (most compare 2015-2019 with 2020-2024); each row names its own in its tooltip and in the table.

Improved6

Gyms+37%0.8 /10k → 1.1 /10k
New businesses+45%5.8 /1k → 8.4 /1k
Real income+27%$41,286 → $52,253
Unemployment−1.6 points5.8% → 4.2%
Property crime−6.6%1,632 /100k → 1,524 /100k

Declined14

Violent crime+169%201 /100k → 540 /100k
Child poverty+9.3 points19.0% → 28.2%
Poverty+4.1 points16.0% → 20.2%
Arts & recreation−43%2.4 /10k → 1.4 /10k
Libraries−16%1.3 /10k → 1.1 /10k

All 29 measures

Change of every measure of Plainview, TX micropolitan area between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Arts, entertainment and recreation	2.4 /10k2020	1.4 /10k2025	−43%	Declined	1%
Average commute time	17.1 min2015-2019	19.3 min2020-2024	+2.3 min	Declined	10%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.1%2015-2019	15.3%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	2%
Broadband subscriptions	77.2%2015-2019	80.9%2020-2024	+3.7 points	Improved	3%
Child poverty rate	19.0%2015-2019	28.2%2020-2024	+9.3 points	Declined	1%
Distance to an airport	34 mi2020	34 mi2025	−0 mi	Little change	88%
Drug overdose deaths	10.8 /100k2020	13.3 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026	+23%	Declined	16%
Effective property tax rate	1.45%2015-2019	1.32%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Firearm deaths	13.6 /100k2020	15.9 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026	+16%	Declined	28%
Grocery stores	1.6 /10k2020	1.6 /10k2025	+3.1%	Little change	62%
Gyms and fitness centers	0.8 /10k2020	1.1 /10k2025	+37%	Improved	84%
High school diploma or higher	76.6%2015-2019	74.7%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	1%
Home price to income ratio	1.7×2015-2019	2.1×2020-2024	+0.4×	Declined	60%
Homicide rate	6.6 /100k2020	7.5 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026	+14%	Declined	13%
Income adjusted for local prices	$41,2862019	$52,2532024	+27%	Improved	14%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4302015-2019	0.4692020-2024	+0.039	Declined	3%
Median household income	$48,3842015-2019	$52,7072020-2024	+8.9%	Within the margin of error	1%
New business applications	5.8 /1k2020	8.4 /1k2025	+45%	Improved	49%
Pharmacies	2.1 /10k2020	2.2 /10k2025	+3.1%	Little change	81%
Poverty rate	16.0%2015-2019	20.2%2020-2024	+4.1 points	Declined	1%
Property crime rate	1,632 /100k2020	1,524 /100k2025	−6.6%	Improved	10%
Public libraries	1.3 /10k2019	1.1 /10k2024	−16%	Declined	5%
Rent as share of income	23.0%2015-2019	27.6%2020-2024	+4.6 points	Declined	4%
Rent-burdened households	34.5%2015-2019	44.0%2020-2024	+9.5 points	Declined	5%
Restaurants and bars	5.0 /10k2020	4.9 /10k2025	−2.4%	Little change	34%
Traffic deaths	15.2 /100k2015-2019	19.1 /100k2020-2024	+26%	Declined	22%
Unemployment rate	5.8%2020	4.2%2025	−1.6 points	Improved	12%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	23.3%2015-2019	24.8%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Violent crime rate	201 /100k2020	540 /100k2025	+169%	Declined	1%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 708 metro and micro areas that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: Regional Economic Accounts; Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages; Mapping Injury, Overdose, and Violence; American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates; Business Formation Statistics; Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Return A master files; Public Libraries Survey; Fatality Analysis Reporting System; Distance to airports and intercity rail. 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 925 metro and micro areas 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.

Metro and micro areas like Plainview, TX micropolitan area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Plainview, TX micropolitan 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.

For comparison, Plainview, TX micropolitan area itself moved −16.2 points in standing on average over the same 29 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

37,347 residents

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

12,976 households (±303)

Plainview, TX micropolitan area
United States share

Under $25k24%3,145
$25k–50k24%3,050
$50k–75k19%2,418

Homes

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

Owners and renters

12,976 households (±303)

Plainview, TX micropolitan area
United States share

Own62%8,104
Rent38%4,872

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

15,753 workers (±526)

Plainview, TX micropolitan area
United States share

Drive alone80%12,564
Carpool15%2,333
Public transit0.1%†18

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 no occupation wages for Plainview, TX micropolitan area.

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.

Plainview, TX has 785 employer establishments, 212 for every 10,000 residents (0.85× the US rate of 248), with 9,408 paid employees at an average annual pay of $41,353. The Census Bureau also counts 2,655 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 785; 2,655 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 212; US 248
Paid employees: 9,408
Average annual pay: $41,353; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	50	13.5	0.65×Fewer than typical	291	$56,780	87
Restaurants and other eating places	50	13.5	0.73×Fewer than typical	836	$17,176	33
Religious organizations	47	12.7	2.28×More than typical	244	$18,156	—
Specialty trade contractors	47	12.7	0.82×About typical	277	$62,130	346
Insurance agencies and brokerages	28	7.6	1.72×More than typical	100	$52,660	56
Automotive repair and maintenance	27	7.3	1.45×More than typical	200	$43,370	91
Limited-service restaurants	26	7	0.87×About typical	474	$17,703	9
Truck transportation	26	7	1.39×More than typical	335	$92,400	199
Building equipment contractors	23	6.2	1.03×About typical	142	$53,289	51
Lessors of real estate	23	6.2	0.50×Fewer than typical	39	$29,744	138
Banks and credit unions	21	5.7	1.75×More than typical	139	$60,094	—
Full-service restaurants	17	4.6	0.60×Fewer than typical	330	$16,545	16

Rank places for an industry

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 37,085 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.
A metro area's figures are the exact sums of its counties.
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 contract spending

In FY2026, federal agencies obligated $1.1M on contracts performed in Plainview, TX micropolitan area: $30.97 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $1.1M; −51% vs FY2025
Per resident: $30.97; 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

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service$1.1M99%
Federal Aviation Administration$15K1.3%

Top recipients

COUNTY SERVICES INC.$1.1M99%
WESTBROOK TOWERS INC$15K1.3%

Spending by fiscal year

648KFY2017
819.5KFY2018
763.5KFY2019
734.8KFY2020
922.4KFY2021
857.4KFY2022
1.3MFY2023
1.3M

Top industries (NAICS)

Other support services · 5619$1.1M99%
Other specialty trade contractors · 2389$15K1.3%

Largest awards

TOWER CONSTRUCTION OF PVW RCAG & T-82 RCAG$1M
WESTBROOK TOWERS INC· Hale County, TX· Construction & real property· Jun 4, 2025 – Jun 22, 2026· 6973GH25C00148
ORDERING PERIOD 1 TASK ORDER FOR BSE SAMPLE COLLECTION.$944.7K
COUNTY SERVICES INC.· Hale County, TX· Professional services· May 5, 2026 – May 5, 2026· 12639526F0505
TASK ORDER FOR COUNTY SERVICES (NM) TYPE B BSE SAMPLE COLLECTION UNDER CONTRACT 12639522D0080. NM - 473 SAMPLES$94.6K
COUNTY SERVICES INC.· Hale County, TX· Professional services· Dec 1, 2025 – Dec 1, 2025· 12639526F0067
TASK ORDER FOR COUNTY SERVICES (TX - PLAINVIEW PLANT) TYPE B BSE SAMPLE COLLECTION UNDER CONTRACT 12639522D0080. 244 SAMPLES

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.

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.

In FY2026, federal agencies obligated $217.8M in grants, loans, direct payments and insurance for Plainview, TX micropolitan area: $5,935 per resident (US $12,955).

Assistance · FY2026: $217.8M; −9.6% vs FY2025
Per resident: $5,935; US $12,955
Loan face value: $9.4M; lent or guaranteed
To individuals: 19%; counted, never named

Top programs

96.002 · Social Security Retirement Insurance$106.6M49%
10.990 · Farmer Bridge Assistance Program$18.4M8.4%

Counties in Plainview, 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.

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

PlainviewPrincipal city19,711

Largest cities and towns

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

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.

Lubbock, TX37

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.

Mapping Injury, Overdose, and ViolenceCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2026-10-01
PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Daily county PM2.5 and ozone (EPA downscaler model)Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · release 2022
Care Compare: Hospital General Information and Timely and Effective CareCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services · release 2026-07-22
Distance to airports and intercity railFederal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census Bureau · release 2025+amtrak-2026-04-23
Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Return A master filesFederal Bureau of Investigation · release 2025
Public Libraries SurveyInstitute of Museum and Library Services · release FY2024
U.S. Drought Monitor county statisticsNational Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAA · release 2026-09-29
Fatality Analysis Reporting SystemNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration · release 2024
nClimGrid-Daily county averagesNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · release 2025
Regional Economic AccountsU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis · release 2024
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
Quarterly Census of Employment and WagesU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2026 Q1
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Business Formation StatisticsU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-10-01
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
Alternative Fuels Data Center station locatorU.S. Department of Energy · release 2026-10
Election Administration and Voting SurveyU.S. Election Assistance Commission · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/M38380

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends

What changed in five years

Improved6

Declined14

Metro and micro areas like Plainview, TX micropolitan area five years ago that improved

Who lives here

Age and sex

Income

Household income

Homes

Owners and renters

Getting to work

How people get to work

Jobs and pay

Local businesses

Federal contract spending

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

Top industries (NAICS)

Largest awards

Federal grants & assistance

Top programs

Counties in Plainview, TX

Principal cities

Largest cities and towns

Other metro and micro areas in Texas

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Similar metro and micro areas

Data and sources

Improved6

Declined14

Age and sex

Household income

Owners and renters

How people get to work

Race and Hispanic origin

Education

Rent paid

Home values

Age of homes

Size of homes

Time to get to work

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

Top industries (NAICS)

Largest awards

Top programs

What was bought

Top recipients (organizations)

Top agencies

By type

Assistance by fiscal year

County aggregates