Grab a photo at Cadillac Ranch, the classic stop in Amarillo, a Route 66 city through and through. The city sits high on the Texas Panhandle, at about 1,100 meters, with about 205,000 people and a lot of open sky. The Big Texan Steak Ranch offers its famous 72 ounce steak challenge, and the Sixth Street historic district has the neon and old shops. Palo Duro Canyon State Park is about 25 miles south, and its outdoor musical TEXAS runs there in summer.
It is one of the cheapest places to live in this group, with housing well below the national level. It is also remote. Lubbock is 120 miles away, and Oklahoma City and Albuquerque are both a long drive. Weather is a real factor, with large hail, tornadoes from April to June, dust storms, wind, and winter blizzards. Crime is above average for a city this size, mostly car theft and break-ins, so lock up and keep valuables out of sight.
Cities with a similar character, anywhere on the site.
Out of 10. Open any score to see how it’s worked out. “Data-based” scores come from published figures; “Hey! En Route estimate” scores are worked out from what we know about the city; “Hey! En Route rating” scores were set by our editors.
- Known as
- Yellow Rose of Texas; Helium Capital of the World; Home of the Big Texan Steak Ranch; Route 66 and Texas Panhandle hub
- Founded
- 1887 founded (railroad town platted by Henry B. Sanborn and J.T. Berry); 1899 incorporated
- Languages
- English; Spanish; Vietnamese; Burmese and Karen (refugee communities); Laotian; Arabic
- Airports
- Rick Husband Amarillo International (AMA), about 8 miles east of downtown; Lubbock Preston Smith International (LBB), about 120 miles south; Will Rogers World (OKC) is about 260 miles east
- Tipping
- Restaurants 18-20%; bars $1-2 per drink; taxis and rideshare 15-20%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 per night; bellhops $2-5 per bag; food delivery 15-20%; counter service optional
About this data
Population 205,130 (Census V2025, July 1, 2025), land area 102.30 sq mi, median home value and rent from Census QuickFacts (fetched). Metro figure 268,691 is the 2020 Census count for the Amarillo MSA (Wikipedia); the current estimate is likely somewhat higher. Events and months come from the Visit Amarillo annual events page (fetched). Elevation, coordinates, founding, airport distances, tipping, cost-of-living index, hotel ranges, crime and 1BR rent are approximate or from general knowledge and not verified in this pass. Official URLs seen in search results but not load-tested.
