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Camp Swift, Texas

Camp Swift is an unincorporated community of about 8,200 people in Bastrop County, Texas. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 3.3 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Austin, is about 29 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
8,239
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$208,500
Bastrop County prices up 2.5% since 2022
Household income
$63,944
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Austin area
98.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
16 miles
Smithville, TX
To Austin
29 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 1.9% below the U.S. average in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Bastrop H S, about 5 miles away.
  • A hospital close byAscension Seton Smithville in Smithville, about 16 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityAustin is about 29 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Camp Swift meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$208,500U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 2.5%Bastrop County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,352 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$63,944U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
72%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,006 a yearTexas: $4,232
Homes built before 1940
1%U.S.: 12%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
98.1U.S. average = 100 (the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 2.5% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro area, not Camp Swift alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
8,239The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
31.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
11%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
27%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
11%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
17%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Construction (18%); retail (17%); schools, health care and social services (17%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
39 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
4%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
15%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Ascension Seton Smithville, Smithville, TX, about 16 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Pflugerville, Pflugerville, TX, about 26 miles away. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Camp Swift, run by Bastrop Isd. The nearest public high school is Bastrop H S, about 5 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Texas's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
40%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
91%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
39°F
July average high
95°F
Days 90°F or hotter
117 a year
Nights at or below freezing
18 a year
Rain and melted snow
36.1 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
453 feet

Weather station: Elgin 1 N (13 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Ascension Seton Smithville, Pflugerville, Austin.

Bastrop County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

Read about Camp Swift's history on Wikipedia.

Know Camp Swift?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • McDade, TX (unincorporated)1,070 people, 7 miles
  • Paige, TX (unincorporated)129 people, 10 miles
  • Webberville, TX495 people, 13 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.