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
SheetTX-ARLINGTON-TX · Arlington, TX 394,769 pop · income 54th 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 Arlington
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Arlington on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
New Orleans · lowest
55,339
New Orleans · lowest
55,339 median HH income
50.9% of the leader · rank #1
Baraboo · near
73,515
Baraboo · near
73,515 median HH income
67.7% of the leader · rank #2
Arlington · this city
73,519
Arlington · this city
73,519 median HH income
67.7% of the leader · rank #3
Estelle · near
73,519
Estelle · near
73,519 median HH income
67.7% of the leader · rank #4
Bressler · near
73,525
Bressler · near
73,525 median HH income
67.7% of the leader · rank #5
Newman · near
73,526
Newman · near
73,526 median HH income
67.7% of the leader · rank #6
Plano · highest
108,649
Plano · highest
108,649 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
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 Arlington 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: 394,769.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Arlington - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Arlington places in the 54th percentile for household income and the 17th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
54th
percentile, household income
61st
percentile, home value
40th
percentile, median rent
17th
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: Arlington, TX
394,769 people live in Arlington, Texas - a mid-sized U.S. city by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Arlington households earn a median of $73,519 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 10.0%. Home values in Arlington run a median of $276,400, and the median resident age is 33.6 years. About 33.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 66.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 1,703 residential building permits were authorized in Arlington (Stable), up 2% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Arlington's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 2895.7 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 66.8°F with 36.2 inches of precipitation per year.
Texas tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 97.1 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,149 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $223 across Texas, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 49.0 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Arlington'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 work and mobility to population change to housing and income to climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist to reported crime to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Arlington, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, annual population history.
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
What does the journey to work look like in Arlington?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 74.7%. 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.
Is Arlington growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +7,773 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.0% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1,703 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 Arlington?
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 3.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Arlington?
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 Texas, the closest population matches are Corpus Christi (317,383 residents, $66,325 income); Plano (287,339 residents, $108,649 income); Lubbock (261,078 residents, $60,487 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Tampa, FL (393,389 residents); Wichita, KS (396,488 residents); Aurora, CO (390,201 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.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Arlington?
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 66.8°F, with 36.2 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Texas is 49.0 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.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
49.0
Annual precipitation
36.2 in
Mean temperature
66.8°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Arlington?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2895.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 27% 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
2895.7
Violent rate
482.9
Property rate
2412.7
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the education layer cover for Arlington?
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 104 public schools within the city match. 33.1% 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
10.0%
Bachelor's degree+
33.1%
Matched public schools
104
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 10.0% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Texas average
D
City profile score · Arlington, TX
45/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share C+
33.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C-
$73,519
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Cost of living C-
97.1 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate D
10.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
483 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Arlington profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 63/100 (C+) · 33.1%
Household income: 53/100 (C-) · $73,519
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Poverty rate: 40/100 (D) · 10.0%
Violent crime: 17/100 (F) · 483 /100k
Where Arlington sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Arlington'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 - Arlington highlighted among 12 peers.Read the chart values
Arlington, TX (this city): home $276,400, crime 2,896/100k
Tampa, FL : home $375,300, crime 1,910/100k
Wichita, KS : home $179,500, crime 2,842/100k
Aurora, CO : home $444,500, crime 4,052/100k
Bakersfield, CA : home $347,300, crime 3,024/100k
Tulsa, OK : home $189,600, crime 4,569/100k
Corpus Christi, TX : home $197,100, crime 3,875/100k
Plano, TX : home $440,600, crime 1,618/100k
Lubbock, TX : home $197,900, crime 3,450/100k
Laredo, TX : home $182,400, crime 1,831/100k
Irving, TX : home $287,300, crime 2,474/100k
Garland, TX : home $248,900, crime 2,221/100k
How does Arlington compare to other US cities?
Where Arlington sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income54% higher than other cities
Home value61% pricier than other cities
Median rent40% pricier than other cities
Safety17% 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 Texas, Arlington ranks #553 of 624 Texas 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 Arlington against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Texas only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Texas-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Arlington near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Arlington ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Arlington only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#529 of 1,520
65th percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Median Home Value
#323 of 1,505
79th percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#750 of 1,663
55th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#324 of 1,663
80th percentile in Texas
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 Texas only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
54th percentile nationally for median household income · 17th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Arlington's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Arlington'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 Arlington's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$276,40039th percentilemore affordable than 39% 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
Arlington's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,918 of 15,516
More affordable than 36% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#38 of 117
Large cities (200,000–999,999)
At 3.8×, Arlington sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,918 of 15,516 and #38 of 117large cities (200,000–999,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$73,519Arlington, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Arlington, TX median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Arlington, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)33.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)66.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
394,769
Median Income
$73,519
Median Home Value
$276,400
Median Age
33.6
Poverty Rate
10.0%
Labor force participation
66.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
33.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2895.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
482.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2412.7
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
66.8°F
Annual Precipitation
36.2"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
104
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Arlington's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
394,361 residents
2021
393,551 residents
2022
395,593 residents
2023
400,547 residents
2024
403,348 residents
2025
402,134 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
1,703
housing units authorized
Single-Family
309
detached homes
Multifamily
1,394
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
4.3
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1,662
840
822
$681.1M
2020
1,447
725
722
$222.2M
2021
2,226
976
1,250
$311.6M
2022
2,902
737
2,165
$280.8M
2023
1,265
696
569
$204.8M
2024
1,703
309
1,394
$248.8M
Permit volume increased 2% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
74.7%
Carpool
9.8%
Public Transit
0.3%
Walk
1.4%
Work from Home
11.8%
Other
2.0%
Based on 200,132 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Texas statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $223
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Texas at $223 (electricity about $130 , water and sewer about $48 ).
These are Texas statewide averages, not a meter reading for Arlington. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Texas's BEA cost-of-living index is 97.1 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Arlington is $1,149/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Texas statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 49.0 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Texas statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Arlington sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Arlington compares to similar-size Texas 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.