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-BLUM-TX · Blum, TX 374 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 Blum
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Blum on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Saxon · lowest
28,394
Saxon · lowest
28,394 median HH income
24.6% of the leader · rank #1
Wickes · near
28,429
Wickes · near
28,429 median HH income
24.6% of the leader · rank #2
Blum · this city
28,438
Blum · this city
28,438 median HH income
24.6% of the leader · rank #3
Dennehotso · near
28,438
Dennehotso · near
28,438 median HH income
24.6% of the leader · rank #4
Supreme · near
28,455
Supreme · near
28,455 median HH income
24.6% of the leader · rank #5
Preston · near
28,462
Preston · near
28,462 median HH income
24.6% of the leader · rank #6
Hillcrest Hei… · highest
115,568
Hillcrest Hei… · highest
115,568 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 Blum 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: 374.
Nationally, Blum sits in the 2nd percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
2nd
percentile, household income
4th
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: Blum, TX
Texas's Blum is a small town, with 374 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $28,438 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 22.9%. Blum's housing stock carries a median value of $80,000, and the median resident age is 28.4 years. Educational attainment runs 3.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 61.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
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. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Texas's average monthly utility costs around $223 (state average). Commute times here average 37.8 minutes, with 94.2% driving alone and 1.7% working from home, per Census ACS commuting 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 Blum'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to housing and income to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Blum, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Blum growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +38 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +9.9% 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.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Blum?
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.
Within Texas, the closest population matches are Latexo (373 residents, $51,719 income); Devers (372 residents, $72,344 income); Gause (376 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Tusayan, AZ (374 residents); Bridgeport, CA (374 residents); Hillcrest Heights, FL (374 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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 94.2%. The reported mean trip to work is 37.8 minutes.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
How far does income reach against housing in Blum?
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 22.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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 Blum?
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.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 3.8% 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
22.9%
Bachelor's degree+
3.8%
Matched public schools
1
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 22.9% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Texas average
F
City profile score · Blum, TX
16/100
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.
Poverty rate F
22.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$28,438
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
3.8%
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).
Blum profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Poverty rate: 9/100 (F) · 22.9%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $28,438
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 3.8%
How does Blum compare to other US cities?
Blum measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income2% higher than other cities
Home value4% 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 Blum 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 Blum near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Blum ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Blum only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,488 of 1,520
2nd percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Median Home Value
#1,295 of 1,505
14th percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#240 of 1,663
85th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,530 of 1,663
8th 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 Blum's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$80,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 96% 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
Blum's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,659 of 15,516
More affordable than 64% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,906 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.8×, Blum sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,659 of 15,516 and #4,906 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
$28,438Blum, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Blum, 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 Blum, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)3.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)22.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)61.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
374
Median Income
$28,438
Median Home Value
$80,000
Median Age
28.4
Poverty Rate
22.9%
Labor force participation
61.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
3.8%
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
Blum's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
383 residents
2021
388 residents
2022
398 residents
2023
407 residents
2024
414 residents
2025
421 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
37.8 minutes
Drive Alone
94.2%
Carpool
4.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
1.7%
Based on 173 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 Blum. 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 Blum 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 Blum sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Blum 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, 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.