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Hillsboro, Texas

Hillsboro is a small town of about 9,000 people in Hill County, Texas. It's the county seat. It's growing fast: its population is up 10% since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.8 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 58 miles away as the crow flies.

Boom townCounty seat

Population
9,036
up 10% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$157,900
Hill County prices up 21% since 2022
Household income
$56,083
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Texas
87.8
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Hill Regional Hospital
To Dallas
58 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 12.2% below the U.S. average in the parts of Texas outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood14 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.5 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 17 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town4 public schools: 1 elementary, 2 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byHill Regional Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityDallas is about 58 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 Hillsboro 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

Boom town. The population is up 10% since 2020. Growing fast, with rising home values. Watch for chain stores and big apartment complexes: the small-town feel may not last.

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
$157,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 21%Hill County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$980 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$56,083U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
54%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,510 a yearTexas: $4,232
Homes built before 1940
16%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
87.8U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Texas outside metro areas)

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 21% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Texas outside metro areas, not Hillsboro 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
9,0362020: 8,196
Median age
35.1 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
15%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
25%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
16%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
13%U.S.: 6%
College students
7%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 (21%); retail (14%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (13%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
23 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
3%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
20%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Hill Regional Hospital, Hillsboro, TX, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 1 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Cleburne, Cleburne, TX, about 29 miles away. Medicare gives it 5 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

4 public schools in Hillsboro, run by Hillsboro Isd.

Colleges in or next to town: Hill 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
54%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
90%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
96°F
Days 90°F or hotter
105 a year
Nights at or below freezing
37 a year
Rain and melted snow
38.7 inches a year
Snow
1 inches a year
Elevation
628 feet

Weather station: Hillsboro (1 mile 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: Waco, Dallas.

Hill County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

14 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Hillsboro Residential Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Waco Mammoth National Monument28 miles

Read about Hillsboro's history on Wikipedia.

Know Hillsboro?

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

  • Carl's Corner, TX227 people, 6 miles
  • Bynum, TX180 people, 7 miles
  • Abbott, TX377 people, 9 miles
  • Aquilla, TX115 people, 12 miles
  • Milford, TX814 people, 12 miles
  • Mertens, TX156 people, 13 miles
  • Malone, TX253 people, 14 miles
  • Covington, TX303 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.