Should You Move to Wharton County?
Here is what the government’s own data says about living in Wharton County. Note the entities: school ratings belong to Wharton ISD, the hospital story belongs to the city of Wharton, and tax rates vary by taxing unit — these are separate bodies, not “the county” as one thing.
Fact — government / primary source
Wharton ISD holds a state “D” accountability rating for 2024–25. Wharton High School rated “D” (with an “F” in Closing the Gaps) and Wharton Elementary rated “D” (with an “F” in Student Achievement).
Source: Texas Education Agency 2024–25 A–F accountability ratings, via Texas Tribune schools data
Fact — government / primary source
Median household income in Wharton County is $66,924 — about 80 percent of both the Texas figure ($78,476) and the U.S. figure ($80,734). Poverty is 13.6%, above the U.S. rate of 12.5%.
Source: Census Reporter, ACS 2024 5-year estimates
Third-party data — commercial aggregator, treat with more caution
The county’s median effective property-tax rate is roughly 1.63%, versus a national median around 1.02%.
Source: Ownwell (commercial property-tax service); an appraisal consultant, O'Connor, cites ~2.1%
Fact — government / primary source
“Roughly three quarters of Wharton’s area lies on a 1% (100-year) floodplain,” and Hurricane Harvey damaged “more than a third of all homes and buildings” in the city of Wharton.
Source: Col. Rhett Blackmon, USACE Galveston District, at the Nov. 29, 2023 levee groundbreaking
Fact — government / primary source
The city of Wharton’s only hospital closed in November 2016 and the city went about 18 months without one, until OakBend Medical Center reopened the campus in 2018. It operates there today with an emergency room and inpatient services.
Source: Victoria Advocate (Nov. 2016); Community Impact (Dec. 2017); OakBend Medical Center
Our take — opinion
Come for the affordable house; stay because you can’t sell it before the next flood.
In fairness — a positive fact
Cost of living is low and commutes are short — about 21 minutes average one-way.
Source: AreaVibes; U.S. Census