Living in Oak Trail Shores, Texas: homes, schools and costs

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 moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Oak Trail Shores to say.
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 townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is Granbury H S, about 4 miles away.
A hospital close byLake Granbury Medical Center in Granbury, about 6 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
Within reach of a big cityDallas is about 66 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 Oak Trail Shores 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

Home prices since then: Up 8.1%Hood County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities: $1,456 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income: $34,344U.S.: $80,734
Homes built before 1940: 1%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010: 19%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes: 0%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 8.1% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Texas outside metro areas, not Oak Trail Shores 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: 3,040The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age: 33.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older: 14%U.S.: 17%
Under 18: 21%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more: 13%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year: 0%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: Retail (12%); manufacturing (11%)
Unemployment rate: 5%U.S.: 5%
Work from home: 2%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line: 17%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Lake Granbury Medical Center, Granbury, TX, about 6 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 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

There are no public schools inside Oak Trail Shores itself. The nearest public high school is Granbury H S, about 4 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: 73%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: 31°F
July average high: 96°F
Days 90°F or hotter: 104 a year
Nights at or below freezing: 58 a year
Rain and melted snow: 36 inches a year
Snow: 0 inches a year
Elevation: 805 feet

Weather stations: Granbury 5N (3 miles away) and Cresson (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

Lake Granbury Medical CenterEmergency room6

Burleson, TXCity of 57,00030

Dallas, TXMetro of 8.5 million66

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: Lake Granbury Medical Center, Burleson, Dallas.

Hood County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

Read about Oak Trail Shores's history on Wikipedia.

Know Oak Trail Shores?

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

Granbury, TX13,300 people, 5 miles
Tolar, TX1,500 people, 9 miles
DeCordova, TX3,300 people, 9 miles
Cresson, TX2,100 people, 13 miles
Pecan Plantation, TX6,500 people, 14 miles
Annetta, TX3,500 people, 17 miles

Smaller places

Stockton Bend, TX419 people, 4 miles
Horseshoe Bend, TX (unincorporated)606 people, 7 miles
Canyon Creek, TX (unincorporated)1,646 people, 9 miles
Western Lake, TX (unincorporated)1,165 people, 9 miles
Dennis, TX870 people, 10 miles
Lipan, TX554 people, 13 miles
Bluff Dale, TX (unincorporated)182 people, 15 miles

Sources

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.