Financial Literacy in Deaf Smith County, Texas

With a population of roughly 18,495, Deaf Smith County, Texas is the 130th-largest of 254 counties in Texas. Its population has held essentially flat since 2020, moving less than a percent either way. The median age is 31.4, young enough that a large share of residents are making first-time decisions about credit, leases and retirement accounts.

11.8% of Deaf Smith County residents 25 and older have completed a bachelor's degree or more. That sits 6.7 points below the Texas average of 18.5%. Put the other way round: of the 10,769 adults 25 and over counted in the 2019–2023 ACS, roughly 9,498 — 88.2% — are building their financial lives without a four-year degree behind them.

The typical household here earns $54,114 a year. That is $9,350 below the Texas median. About 15.8% of residents live below the poverty line. The median home is valued at $116,000, roughly 2.1× median household income.

Deaf Smith County by the numbers

Measure	Value
Population (2024)	18,495
Change since 2020	-0.2%
Median household income	$54,114
Adults 25+ with a bachelor’s degree	11.8%
Adults 25+ with a high school diploma	71.4%
Median age	31.4
Poverty rate	15.8%
Unemployment rate	3.3%
Median home value	$116,000
Land area	1,496.822 sq mi
Population density	12 / sq mi

What Texas teaches — and to whom

Texas has committed to 1 semester of personal finance as a graduation requirement, phasing in with the class of 2030 — so today's middle schoolers will be the first cohort held to it. That covers students still in the system. It does nothing for the adults already out of it — which, in Deaf Smith County, is most of the people reading this.

LearnLife organises this the way the decisions actually arrive: Legal literacy — leases, contracts, employment rights and what a signature actually commits you to; Money — budgeting, credit, debt and taxes — the mechanics nobody is formally taught; Emotional regulation — the self-management that decides whether the other skills ever get used.

Where to start in Deaf Smith County

Get the first-decade decisions right

A median age of 31.4 means a large share of Deaf Smith County is making decisions with thirty-year consequences: the first credit card, the first lease, whether to take the employer match. These are cheap to get right now and expensive to unwind later.

Questions people ask about Deaf Smith County

Do high school students in Deaf Smith County, Texas have to take a personal finance class?

Yes — Texas has adopted a standalone requirement, phasing in with the graduating class of 2030. Students graduating before then are not covered.

How many adults in Deaf Smith County, Texas have a college degree?

11.8% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor's degree or higher, based on the Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey. The remaining 88.2% are managing their finances without one.

What is the median household income in Deaf Smith County, Texas?

$54,114, per the Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey.

Where can adults in Deaf Smith County, Texas learn personal finance?

Graduation requirements only ever reach people still in school. For adults, LearnLife covers the same ground on demand — money, legal literacy and the self-management that decides whether either gets used.

Start with whichever one is costing you money right now.

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Population and demographic figures: U.S. Census Bureau — 2024 Gazetteer, Vintage 2024 Population Estimates, and the American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-year estimates. Graduation-requirement status: NGPF Live U.S. Dashboard, read 2026-09-14. Figures marked as unavailable are suppressed by the Census Bureau for small populations.