City safety & data profile
AltonTX
Alton, TX is a 16K-resident city in Hidalgo County with a median household income of $52,715.
Hidalgo County, Texas. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Alton, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Alton has a population larger than 30% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $156,300, and 5 hospitals serving the surrounding area.
- 16K
- Population (place)
- Bottom 31%
- By size
- $52,715
- Median income (place)
- $156,300
- Median home (place)
- 27.5%
- Poverty rate (place)
The read on Alton
Alton posts a median household income higher than 12% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 5 hospitals serve the Alton area.
- Bottom 13%
- by median income, US cities
- 5
- hospitals in & near Alton
Composite score · Alton, TX
13/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2024
A transparent index Areazine derives from Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published, not an official Census Bureau or FBI rating. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move to or avoid any place. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents. State-level rate (per-city UCR reporting is incomplete/voluntary): every city in the state shares this value; lower is stronger on this axis.
Median household income vs cities tracked on Areazine; ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis. ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Curious how Alton stacks up nationwide? See the full tables: Healthiest Cities in America (health outcomes only) · Community Wellbeing Cities (this page's blended composite).
Where Alton income ranks nationally
Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)
$52,715 Bottom 12% higher than 12% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles
Each bar is a $20,000-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year
TX cities ranked by population
244 TX places (10,000+ residents, ACS income on record), sorted by population. Hover a bar for its income rank in this pool.
- Houston
Houston, TX
2,314,157 residents
- San Antonio
San Antonio, TX
1,526,656 residents
- Dallas
Dallas, TX
1,326,087 residents
- Fort Worth
Fort Worth, TX
1,008,106 residents
- Austin
Austin, TX
974,447 residents
- El Paso 678,815
El Paso, TX
678,815 residents
- Arlington 388,125
Arlington, TX
388,125 residents
- Corpus Christi 316,239
Corpus Christi, TX
316,239 residents
- Plano 283,558
Plano, TX
283,558 residents
- Laredo 256,153
Laredo, TX
256,153 residents
What this shows Houston tops this pool by population; the income lead belongs to Southlake instead.
TX cities ranked by median household income
Median household income among the same 244-city pool. Tooltip shows the population rank.
- Southlake
Southlake, TX
$250,001 median
- University Park
University Park, TX
$250,001 median
- West University Place
West University Place, TX
$250,001 median
- Bellaire
Bellaire, TX
$244,015 median
- Colleyville
Colleyville, TX
$218,328 median
- Trophy Club
Trophy Club, TX
$201,054 median
- Prosper
Prosper, TX
$195,281 median
- Lakeway
Lakeway, TX
$190,060 median
- Murphy
Murphy, TX
$175,699 median
- Keller
Keller, TX
$174,950 median
What this shows Southlake leads this pool on median income; Houston is the population leader instead.
The quick read
Reading Alton, TX beyond the headline numbers
Alton sits inside Hidalgo County, Texas, at roughly 26.29°N, -98.31°W. Population 15,760, $52,715 median household income. Median home value $156,300, median rent $1,038. Poverty rate 27.5%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.
5 hospitals in/around Alton (nearest 6.5 mi away), 3.7/5 avg rating, 5 with an ER. Climate: 73.4°F annual average, 20.3" precipitation.
Among the CDC measures on this page, lack of health insurance departs furthest from its peer median: 41.5% in Alton, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.
Alton's median age is 26.1 years, in the youngest quarter of reporting cities.
27.5% of Alton, TX residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.
8.3% unemployment puts Alton in the toughest quarter of reporting cities for job availability.
14.2% of Alton adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the lowest quarter of reporting cities.
A typical renter in Alton, TX pays $1,038/month, in the cheapest quarter of reporting cities -- rent here is not what strains a local paycheck.
Housing is inexpensive against local pay -- the median home in Alton runs about 3.0 years of median household income, in the cheapest quarter of reporting cities.
Public transit carries 0% of Alton workers, a smaller share than at least three quarters of reporting cities.
Remote work covers 11.5% of Alton workers, under the midpoint for reporting cities.
Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Alton from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.
A Decade of Change 2013–2024
County-level trend (Hidalgo County): Alton's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.
Economics
The clearest outlier in Alton's numbers is poverty rate: 27.5%, which is 122% above what's typical across the tracked-city set. A second figure worth noting: median household income at $52,715, 41% below the tracked-city average.
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Median Rent | |
| Poverty Rate | 27.5% +122% vs avg |
| Unemployment | 8.3% |
| Bachelor's Degree+ | 14.2% |
| Work From Home | 11.5% |
| Public Transit | 0% |
By the Numbers
Health at a Glance 15 measures
Health Indicators
Preventive Care
Other Measures
Nearby Hospital Options 5 within 25 mi
CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating (1-5): a composite score across dozens of reported measures, not a single outcome guarantee for any patient. It isn't adjusted for patient case mix and isn't directly comparable across hospital types, a critical-access facility and a large teaching hospital aren't rated on the same measure set.
Climate
NOAA 1991-2020 NormalsCost of Living
BEA 202414.1% below national average
Metro area: McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX (MSA)
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities via FRED. RPP of 100 = national average.
Flood Claims on Record
FEMA NFIP, county-level2,496 flood insurance claims have been filed in Hidalgo County since 2016, with $97.7M paid out by the NFIP.
The largest single contributor was Hurricane Hanna, accounting for 775 claims.
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims, via OpenFEMA. County-level data: individual claims are not attributed to a specific city or address by FEMA.
What alerts and safety updates affect Alton?
No area-tagged alerts are on record for Alton right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.
City alert dispatch desk
Sheet TX-ALTON-TX · Alton
Alton: 15 tagged alerts; lead category NWS weather alert.
- VOL-ACTIVE 15 on record
- WX-LED 87% weather
- DESK-MIX NOAA
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Phoenix
Tagged alert mix: Alton
Published notices carrying this city slug or location tag
- Weather Alerts
Weather Alerts
13
- Flood Warnings 2
Flood Warnings
2
What this shows 15 tagged notices on record for Alton.
Nearest tagged-volume peer: Phoenix, AZ (15 tagged · Δ0)
Counts reflect published articles tagged to Alton; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse Texas state hubs · Methodology
Cities with a similar tagged alert volume 4
Nearest published-notice counts on Areazine (15 tagged here), a feed-density peer set, not an ACS demographic match.
Related reading
Frequently Asked Questions 9
What is the population of Alton, TX? ▼
What is the median household income in Alton? ▼
What is the median home value in Alton? ▼
What are the top health concerns in Alton? ▼
What hospitals are near Alton? ▼
What is the median age in Alton? ▼
What is the climate like in Alton? ▼
What is the cost of living in Alton? ▼
What is the flood claim history for Alton? ▼
Similar poverty or income, nationwide 8
Two ACS-derived peer sets for Alton, both outside Texas so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.
Similar poverty rate
Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside TX (27.5% here).
Similar median income
Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside TX ($52,715 here).
Compare Alton with another city
Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.
Cities Close By 8
What to do with Alton's numbers
Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.
- Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Alton area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
- A median income figure alone can mislead, cross-check it against the poverty rate for the fuller picture.
- Compare Alton against Texas peers on any ranking lens. Explore Texas
Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.
Data Sources
All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Hidalgo County) where that is the smallest published unit.
Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-16.