Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetMO-HOUSTON-MO · Houston, MO 2,407 pop · income 9th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Houston
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Houston on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Houston · this city · lowest
41,250
Houston · this city · lowest
41,250 median HH income
25.4% of the leader · rank #1
Gu-Win · near
41,250
Gu-Win · near
41,250 median HH income
25.4% of the leader · rank #2
Mount Vernon · near
41,250
Mount Vernon · near
41,250 median HH income
25.4% of the leader · rank #3
Kaltag · near
41,250
Kaltag · near
41,250 median HH income
25.4% of the leader · rank #4
Cave City · near
41,250
Cave City · near
41,250 median HH income
25.4% of the leader · rank #5
Lake Lotawana · highest
162,188
Lake Lotawana · highest
162,188 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Houston on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 2,407.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Houston - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Houston lands in the 9th percentile for household income and the 3rd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
9th
percentile, household income
15th
percentile, home value
7th
percentile, median rent
3rd
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Houston, MO
Houston is a small town in Missouri, home to 2,407 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $41,250 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 20.6%. Typical homes in Houston are valued around $115,200, and the median resident age is 35.7 years. Educational attainment runs 13.3% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 49.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 39 residential building permits were authorized in Houston (Building Boom), up 680% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Houston's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 5177.8 crimes per 100,000 residents, above the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 55.9°F with 46.8 inches of precipitation per year and 3.7 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Missouri run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Missouri scores 90.8 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $972 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Missouri run around $219, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 50.6 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Houston's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to housing and income to climate and hazard context to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to schools and households to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Houston, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Houston growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +200 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +9.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 39 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
How far does income reach against housing in Houston?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 20.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 55.9°F, with 46.8 inches of precipitation and 3.7 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Missouri is 50.6 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
Which cities make useful reference points for Houston?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Missouri, the closest population matches are Anderson (2,415 residents, $51,875 income); Lake Lotawana (2,378 residents, $162,188 income); Sparta (2,378 residents, $61,630 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lipscomb, AL (2,407 residents); Moriches, NY (2,407 residents); Berlin, PA (2,407 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Houston?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 84.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
84.9%
Work from home
3.9%
Public transit
1.2%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 975 workers age 16+.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 13.3% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Poverty estimate
20.6%
Bachelor's degree+
13.3%
Matched public schools
4
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Houston?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 5177.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 127% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
5177.8
Violent rate
585.3
Property rate
4592.5
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 20.6% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.8 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Missouri average
F
City profile score · Houston, MO
25/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living A-
90.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share F
13.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
20.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
585 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$41,250
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Houston profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 83/100 (A-) · 90.8 index
Bachelor's+ share: 15/100 (F) · 13.3%
Poverty rate: 12/100 (F) · 20.6%
Violent crime: 11/100 (F) · 585 /100k
Household income: 8/100 (F) · $41,250
Where Houston sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Houston's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Houston highlighted among 26 peers.Read the chart values
Houston, MO (this city): home $115,200, crime 5,178/100k
Lipscomb, AL : home $93,900, crime 404/100k
Berlin, PA : home $122,800, crime 514/100k
Lake Lotawana, MO : home $550,000, crime 889/100k
Sparta, MO : home $167,400, crime 660/100k
Lake Ozark, MO : home $308,700, crime 625/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Houston compare to other US cities?
Houston measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income9% higher than other cities
Home value15% pricier than other cities
Median rent7% pricier than other cities
Safety3% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Missouri, Houston ranks #217 of 234 Missouri cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Houston against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Missouri only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Missouri-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Houston near the bottom of Missouri's cities
Among the 875 Missouri cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Houston ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Houston only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#669 of 842
20th percentile in Missouri
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 875
0th percentile in Missouri
Median Home Value
#443 of 833
47th percentile in Missouri
Poverty Rate
#156 of 875
82nd percentile in Missouri
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#518 of 875
40th percentile in Missouri
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Missouri only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
9th percentile nationally for median household income · 3rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Houston's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Houston's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Houston's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$115,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 85% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Houston's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,543 of 15,516
More affordable than 64% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,819 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.8×, Houston sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,543 of 15,516 and #4,819 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$41,250Houston, MO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Houston, MO median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Houston, MO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)13.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)20.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)49.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,407
Median Income
$41,250
Median Home Value
$115,200
Median Age
35.7
Poverty Rate
20.6%
Labor force participation
49.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
13.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
5177.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
585.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
4592.5
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
55.9°F
Annual Precipitation
46.8"
Annual Snowfall
3.7"
Schools
Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Houston's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,081 residents
2021
2,130 residents
2022
2,160 residents
2023
2,185 residents
2024
2,193 residents
2025
2,281 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
39
housing units authorized
Single-Family
2
detached homes
Multifamily
37
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
16.2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
5
1
4
$0.5M
2020
3
1
2
$0.3M
2021
5
1
4
$0.5M
2022
3
1
2
$0.3M
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
39
2
37
$2.2M
Permit volume increased 680% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
84.9%
Carpool
7.0%
Public Transit
1.2%
Walk
3.0%
Work from Home
3.9%
Based on 975 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Missouri statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $219
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Missouri at $219 (electricity about $105 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are Missouri statewide averages, not a meter reading for Houston. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Missouri's BEA cost-of-living index is 90.8 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Houston is $972/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Missouri statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 50.6 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Missouri statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Houston sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Houston compares to similar-size Missouri cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.