Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Texas

Denison, Texas

Denison is a small city of about 27,000 people in Grayson County, Texas. It has grown about 9% since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.7 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, Dallas, is about 68 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
26,822
up 9.2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$180,900
Grayson County prices up 11% since 2022
Household income
$67,365
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Sherman area
93.8
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Texoma Medical Center
To Dallas
68 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 6.2% below the U.S. average in the Sherman-Denison metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood61 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2.3 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 7.5 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town9 public schools: 5 elementary, 2 middle, 1 high school and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byTexoma Medical Center is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityDallas is about 68 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 Denison 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
$180,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 11%Grayson County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,309 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$67,365U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
59%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,396 a yearTexas: $4,232
Homes built before 1940
12%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
13%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
93.8U.S. average = 100 (the Sherman-Denison 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 11% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Sherman-Denison metro area, not Denison 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, 2025 estimate
26,8222020: 24,562
Median age
40.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
20%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
25%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
19%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
6%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
Schools, health care and social services (20%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (13%); manufacturing (13%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
19 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
10%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: Texoma Medical Center, Denison, TX, in town. It's a general hospital. 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

9 public schools in Denison, run by Denison Isd and Sherman Isd.

Colleges in or next to town: Grayson College (1,000 to 4,999 students).

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
68%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
89%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
34°F
July average high
92°F
Days 90°F or hotter
73 a year
Nights at or below freezing
43 a year
Rain and melted snow
41.6 inches a year
Snow
2 inches a year
Elevation
808 feet

Weather stations: Sherman (6 miles away) and Kingston 5 SSE (13 miles away, rain and snow). 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: Sherman, Dallas.

Grayson County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Denison Commercial Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Chickasaw National Recreation Area50 miles

Campus life. Check Grayson College's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Denison's history on Wikipedia.

Know Denison?

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

  • Knollwood, TX809 people, 6 miles
  • Cartwright, OK (unincorporated)744 people, 6 miles
  • Preston, TX (unincorporated)1,747 people, 8 miles
  • Achille, OK434 people, 12 miles
  • Kemp, OK135 people, 13 miles
  • Sand Point, OK (unincorporated)275 people, 13 miles
  • Sherwood Shores, TX (unincorporated)830 people, 15 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.