Life Skills and Money Education in Reagan County, Texas

Reagan County, Texas is home to about 3,139 people. It has lost residents since 2020, slipping 8.3% from 3,423 down to 3,139. At a median age of 29.4, much of the population is still early in the decisions — first lease, first card, first paycheck deduction — that set financial habits for decades.

Among adults 25 and older in Reagan County, 17% hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That sits 1.5 points below the Texas average of 18.5%. Flip that figure and it describes 83% of the 1,789 adults 25 and over counted in the 2019–2023 ACS, about 1,485 people whose money skills came from somewhere other than a university.

Median household income is $70,288. That is $6,824 above the Texas median. About 11.1% of residents live below the poverty line. The median home is valued at $163,700, roughly 2.3× median household income.

Reagan County by the numbers

Measure	Value
Population (2024)	3,139
Change since 2020	-8.3%
Median household income	$70,288
Adults 25+ with a bachelor’s degree	17%
Adults 25+ with a high school diploma	89%
Median age	29.4
Poverty rate	11.1%
Unemployment rate	8.3%
Median home value	$163,700
Land area	1,175.314 sq mi
Population density	3 / 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 Reagan County, is most of the people reading this.

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

Where to start in Reagan County

Get the first-decade decisions right

A median age of 29.4 means a large share of Reagan 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.

Treat income stability as a skill

Unemployment in Reagan County sits at 8.3%. Where work is less certain, the practical skills are the defensive ones: what unemployment insurance actually pays and how fast, how to read a severance agreement, and which bills to triage first when income stops.

Understand what a shrinking tax base changes

Reagan County has lost 8.3% of its population since 2020. Declining places tend to see slower home appreciation and tighter municipal budgets, which makes the buy-versus-rent calculation genuinely different here than the national advice assumes.

Questions people ask about Reagan County

Do high school students in Reagan 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 Reagan County, Texas have a college degree?

17% 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 83% are managing their finances without one.

What is the median household income in Reagan County, Texas?

$70,288, per the Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey.

Where can adults in Reagan 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.