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Garden Ridge, Texas

Garden Ridge is a suburb of about 4,400 people in Comal County, Texas, in the San Antonio area. It has grown about 4% since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.9 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, San Antonio, is about 18 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of San Antonio

Population
4,371
up 4.2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$688,200
Comal County prices up 4.8% since 2022
Household income
$177,353
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, San Antonio area
94.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
11 miles
San Antonio, TX
To San Antonio
18 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 5.3% below the U.S. average in the San Antonio-New Braunfels metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.9 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood1 violent crime was reported in 2025, about 0.2 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 4.7 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 elementary and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byMethodist Hospital Stone Oak in San Antonio, about 11 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big citySan Antonio is about 18 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 Garden Ridge 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.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Garden Ridge runs into the built-up area around San Antonio (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$688,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 4.8%Comal County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$177,353U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
96%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$8,813 a yearTexas: $4,232
Homes built before 1940
0%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
20%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
94.7U.S. average = 100 (the San Antonio-New Braunfels 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 4.8% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the San Antonio-New Braunfels metro area, not Garden Ridge 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
4,3712020: 4,196
Median age
54.9 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
23%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
18%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
63%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
2%U.S.: 6%
College students
11%share of all residents

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 (18%); professional and business services (15%); finance, insurance and real estate (15%)
Unemployment rate
1%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
37 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
26%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
0%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Methodist Hospital Stone Oak, San Antonio, TX, about 11 miles away. 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

2 public schools in Garden Ridge, run by Comal Isd.

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
81%U.S.: 76%

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
41°F
July average high
96°F
Days 90°F or hotter
133 a year
Nights at or below freezing
12 a year
Rain and melted snow
33.6 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
894 feet

Weather stations: Randolph Afb (6 miles away) and New Braunfels (8 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: Methodist Hospital Stone Oak, New Braunfels, San Antonio.

Comal 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

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • San Antonio Missions National Historical Park21 miles
  • Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park44 miles

Read about Garden Ridge's history on Wikipedia.

Know Garden Ridge?

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

  • Santa Clara, TX745 people, 8 miles
  • Hill Country Village, TX970 people, 12 miles
  • Zuehl, TX (unincorporated)401 people, 12 miles
  • Lake Dunlap, TX (unincorporated)1,411 people, 13 miles
  • McQueeney, TX (unincorporated)2,392 people, 15 miles
  • New Berlin, TX718 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.