Schertz, TX
What Schertz is actually like
Schertz's origins trace to German immigrant families -- including the Schertz, Boettiger, and Schneider households -- who settled the area in the 1840s as the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway expanded through. A post office opened in 1884 under the name "Cutoff" and was renamed Schertz in 1899, after local store operator Sebastian Schertz; by 1890 the community had a cotton gin, a grocery store, and roughly 200 residents.
Population held nearly flat -- around 350 residents -- from the early 1930s through the late 1950s, small-farm-town scale, even as nearby Randolph Field (now Randolph Air Force Base, opened 1930) became an economic boon to the area. Schertz formally incorporated as a city in 1958 with just 351 residents.
Since incorporation, Schertz has grown explosively along the I-35 corridor between San Antonio and Austin: 2,281 residents in 1960, 18,694 in 2000, 31,465 in 2010, 42,002 at the 2020 Census, and an estimated 44,000-plus today -- now the third-largest city in the San Antonio-New Braunfels metro area. It reads today as a family-oriented, newly built suburb with a stable, military-adjacent economy tied to Randolph Air Force Base, new subdivisions, and a small preserved historic core.
Home values in Schertz
Zillow tracks home values city-by-city, not for every neighborhood within a city — Schertz is one of the pockets that doesn't get its own figure. Rather than publish a citywide number that might not reflect this specific part of town, we're leaving pricing out of this particular guide for now.
See what makes San Antonio stand out — verified, named medical, dietary, sports, and other specialty resources you won't find in most metros.
Explore Specialty Resources →Schertz FAQ
How far is Schertz from downtown San Antonio, and how do I get there?
About 19 miles via I-35, which runs through northern Schertz. There's no VIA bus service within the city itself, so a car is effectively required.
Is Schertz near a military base? What does that mean for the area?
Yes -- Randolph Air Force Base sits just outside Schertz, technically within neighboring Universal City. It has shaped Schertz's economy and growth since the base opened in 1930, and the wider area markets itself as the "Randolph Metrocom," with a military-connected population and economy.
What school district serves Schertz, and how good are the schools?
Most of Schertz is in Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD (SCUC ISD), a roughly 15,000-student district rated A- overall on Niche and ranked the top school district in Guadalupe County; a small Comal County pocket falls under Comal ISD instead.
Does Schertz flood?
Cibolo Creek runs through Schertz and has a real flash-flood history, including a July 2026 event that triggered a city disaster declaration and evacuations near the creek. Risk is concentrated in the creek's floodplain, not citywide -- check FEMA flood-zone status for a specific address.
What's Schertz like day to day -- small town or suburb?
Both, currently in transition: Schertz began as a tiny 1870s-90s German farming settlement and stayed under 500 people until the late 1950s, but has grown to roughly 44,000 residents today, driven by I-35 corridor growth between San Antonio and Austin. It's now a family-oriented suburb with a lot of new housing construction alongside a small historic core.