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Place dossier plate
SheetTX-BALMORHEA-TX · Balmorhea, TX 505 pop · income 2nd 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 Balmorhea
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Balmorhea on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Placedo · lowest
28,000
Placedo · lowest
28,000 median HH income
14.8% of the leader · rank #1
Heron · near
29,357
Heron · near
29,357 median HH income
15.5% of the leader · rank #2
Balmorhea · this city
29,375
Balmorhea · this city
29,375 median HH income
15.5% of the leader · rank #3
Enigma · near
29,375
Enigma · near
29,375 median HH income
15.5% of the leader · rank #4
Mitchellville · near
29,398
Mitchellville · near
29,398 median HH income
15.5% of the leader · rank #5
Prescott · near
29,403
Prescott · near
29,403 median HH income
15.5% of the leader · rank #6
Woodland · highest
189,107
Woodland · highest
189,107 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Balmorhea on ACS population and median household income
. 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: 505.
Balmorhea ranks in the 2nd percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
2nd
percentile, household income
1st
percentile, home value
40th
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Balmorhea, TX
Balmorhea is a small town in Texas, home to 505 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $29,375 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 41.6%. Home values in Balmorhea run a median of $56,700, and the median resident age is 41.8 years. About 5.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 61.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA puts Balmorhea's yearly average temperature at 63.9°F with 12.1 inches of precipitation per year and 0.6 inches of snowfall.
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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Texas run around $223, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Balmorhea'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 comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to housing and income to work and mobility to schools and households to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Balmorhea, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Balmorhea?
Within Texas, the closest population matches are Bear Creek (503 residents, $125,250 income); Placedo (503 residents, $28,000 income); Pueblo Nuevo (503 residents, $38,800 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Napier Field, AL (505 residents); Silas, AL (505 residents); Humeston, IA (505 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.
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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 63.9°F, with 12.1 inches of precipitation and 0.6 inches of annual snowfall. 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.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in Balmorhea?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 41.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
What does the journey to work look like in Balmorhea?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 81.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Balmorhea?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 5.1% 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.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Matched public schools
1
Bachelor's degree+
5.1%
Poverty estimate
41.6%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Is Balmorhea growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -6 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.5% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
-1.5%
2025 estimate
399
2020 estimate
405
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 41.6% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Texas average
F
City profile score · Balmorhea, TX
13/100
4 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 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.
Household income F
$29,375
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
41.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
5.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Balmorhea profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $29,375
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 41.6%
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 5.1%
How does Balmorhea compare to other US cities?
Where Balmorhea sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income2% higher than other cities
Home value1% pricier than other cities
Median rent40% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Balmorhea 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 Balmorhea near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Balmorhea ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Balmorhea only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,486 of 1,520
2nd percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Median Home Value
#1,436 of 1,505
4th percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#58 of 1,663
96th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,491 of 1,663
10th 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
2nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Balmorhea's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$56,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 99% 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
Balmorhea's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#1,407 of 15,516
More affordable than 91% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,355 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.9×, Balmorhea sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,407 of 15,516 and #1,355 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
$29,375Balmorhea, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Balmorhea, 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 Balmorhea, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)5.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)41.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)61.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
505
Median Income
$29,375
Median Home Value
$56,700
Median Age
41.8
Poverty Rate
41.6%
Labor force participation
61.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
5.1%
Climate
Avg Temperature
63.9°F
Annual Precipitation
12.1"
Annual Snowfall
0.6"
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Balmorhea's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
405 residents
2021
391 residents
2022
388 residents
2023
393 residents
2024
399 residents
2025
399 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
81.8%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Other
18.2%
Based on 236 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 Balmorhea. 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 Balmorhea 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 Balmorhea sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Balmorhea 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, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, 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.