Healthcare & Safety in Waco
Waco is served by two separate hospital systems -- Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Medical Center and Ascension Providence Hospital -- each with specific U.S. News-recognized high-performing service lines. Crime data, by contrast, is a real, disclosed concern: CrimeGrade puts Waco meaningfully above the national average across the board.
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Learn moreTwo hospital systems provide real regional healthcare access
Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Hillcrest is rated high performing in Knee Replacement and Maternity Care (Uncomplicated Pregnancy), with 92% of surveyed patients willing to recommend it, plus an America's 250 Best Hospitals Award and a Patient Safety Excellence Award. Ascension Providence Hospital is rated high performing in Prostate Cancer Surgery and TAVR (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement), with 89% of surveyed patients willing to recommend it (U.S. News & World Report). Neither reaches the Level I trauma-center scale of Temple's Baylor Scott & White Medical Center (covered elsewhere in this dataset), but together they give Waco a genuine choice of regional systems rather than a single-hospital-town situation.
Crime data: a real, disclosed concern, not a settled worry-free picture
CrimeGrade.org reports Waco's overall crime rate at 27 per 1,000 residents, 74% higher than the national average -- violent crime 66% above the national level and property crime 76% above the national level -- with more than 91% of Texas communities showing a lower overall crime rate than Waco. The projected 2025 cost of crime citywide is roughly $89.3 million, about $702 per resident. This single-source read (CrimeGrade) should be cross-checked against NeighborhoodScout or FBI/Texas DPS Uniform Crime Reporting data for a fuller picture before making a safety-related decision, but the direction -- above-national crime rates -- is a real, disclosed fact, not an invented caveat.
Key takeaways
- Waco is served by two hospital systems -- Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest and Ascension Providence -- each with specific, nationally recognized high-performing service lines (U.S. News).
- CrimeGrade.org puts Waco's overall crime rate 74% above the national average, with violent crime 66% above and property crime 76% above national levels -- a real, disclosed concern rather than a minor caveat.
- More than 91% of Texas communities have a lower overall crime rate than Waco, per CrimeGrade -- cross-check against NeighborhoodScout or Texas DPS UCR data for a fuller picture.
- Neither Waco hospital system carries a Level I trauma designation -- healthcare access here is real and regionally solid, not flagship-tier.
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