facebook tracking Texas ER Wait Times 2026: Shortest & Longest of 336 Hospitals

Texas ER wait times by hospital

In an emergency, call 911. These are yearly medians, not live wait times. Don't pick an ER from this list when someone needs help now.

According to HospitalsInEachState.com's analysis of the July 2026 CMS release, the median emergency room visit in Texas for patients treated and sent home lasts 2 hr 18 min, 10 min shorter than the US median of 2 hr 28 min, across 336 reporting hospitals. Texas ranks #19 of 50 states in the HospitalsInEachState.com State ER Wait Rankings, where #1 has the shortest visits. The shortest is at Mitchell County Hospital District in Colorado City (48 min) and the longest at Harris County Hospital District (6 hr 7 min). 107 of 336 come in under two hours and 12 take four hours or more; 191 (57%) are faster than the US median.

CMS data published July 2026336 hospitals12-month medians
Texas median 2 hr 18 min −10 min vs US US median is 2 hr 28 min
Shortest 48 min Mitchell County Hospital District, Colorado City
Longest 6 hr 7 min Harris County Hospital District, Houston
Under 2 hours 107 ERs 12 take 4 hours or more
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Report: Maryland has the longest ER visits: 4 hr 1 min at the typical hospital (Oct 25, 2026)

Fastest to slowest ER wait times in Texas, by hospital

Times are for patients treated and sent home, not admitted. The bar shows each ER against the slowest in the state; the tick marks the Texas median.

How to read this list

Each time is the median for a full year, so half of visits were shorter and half longer. Busy hospitals treat sicker patients, so a longer time is not by itself a mark against a hospital. "Left before seen" is the share of patients who walked out before a clinician saw them. How this measure works.

Showing the 25 shortest of 336 hospitals

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ER wait times in Texas's largest cities

Median visit time across the hospitals listed in each city. Open a city's page, or filter the list above.

CityERsMedianShortest in the city
Arlington 4 2 hr 20 min Baylor Orthopedic and Spine Hospital at Arlington · 2 hr 10 min
El Paso 7 2 hr 40 min Las Palmas Medical Center · 2 hr 7 min
Austin 8 2 hr 42 min Baylor Scott & White Medical Center- Austin · 1 hr 57 min
Plano 5 2 hr 44 min Medical Center of Plano · 2 hr 21 min
San Antonio 9 2 hr 50 min Baptist Neighborhood Hospital Thousand Oaks · 1 hr 55 min
Houston 17 2 hr 52 min HCA Houston Healthcare Medical Center · 1 hr 15 min
Dallas 12 3 hr Baylor Medical Center at Uptown · 1 hr 42 min
Fort Worth 9 3 hr 6 min Medical City Alliance · 1 hr 47 min

Questions about Texas ER wait times

Which Texas ER has the shortest wait?

Mitchell County Hospital District in Colorado City, with a median visit of 48 min. Memorial Hospital in Gonzales is next at 1 hr 10 min.

Which Texas ER has the longest wait?

Harris County Hospital District, at 6 hr 7 min. The busiest emergency departments tend to have the longest visits because they treat more patients and more complex cases.

How long is the average ER visit in Texas?

The median is 2 hr 18 min, 10 min shorter than the US median of 2 hr 28 min. 107 of 336 Texas ERs come in under two hours and 12 take four hours or more.

Are these live wait times?

No. They are 12-month medians for patients who were treated and sent home, published by CMS. They show what is typical, not what is happening tonight. In an emergency, call 911.

Why are big hospitals slower?

Low-volume Texas ERs have a median visit of 1 hr 56 min. High and very-high-volume ERs come in at 2 hr 46 min. Large hospitals see more patients and sicker ones, and many are trauma centers.

ER wait times in neighboring states

Cite this data

Journalists, researchers and site owners are welcome to quote and chart these figures. They are free to use under CC BY 4.0: please credit HospitalsInEachState.com and link to this page.

Figures as of the July 2026 CMS release Updated automatically when CMS publishes new data Permanent link: hospitalsineachstate.com/er-wait-times/texas/

Download the data (CSV) See the State ER Wait Rankings

Source: CMS Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting, measure OP-18b (median time from ED arrival to departure for discharged patients), published July 2026. Updated when CMS publishes new data.

Hospitals with too few cases to report are not listed; they still have a page in the Texas hospital directory. Campuses that CMS reports under one facility number appear once. Not affiliated with CMS.