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Place dossier plate
SheetTX-DECATUR-TX · Decatur, TX 7,087 pop · income 52nd pct · 16 tracts
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 Decatur
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Decatur on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
River Rouge · lowest
32,568
River Rouge · lowest
32,568 median HH income
15.4% of the leader · rank #1
Mystic Island · near
71,917
Mystic Island · near
71,917 median HH income
34.0% of the leader · rank #2
Decatur · this city
71,919
Decatur · this city
71,919 median HH income
34.0% of the leader · rank #3
Crested Butte · near
71,923
Crested Butte · near
71,923 median HH income
34.0% of the leader · rank #4
Lake Norden · near
71,923
Lake Norden · near
71,923 median HH income
34.0% of the leader · rank #5
Laton · near
71,926
Laton · near
71,926 median HH income
34.0% of the leader · rank #6
Belterra · highest
211,471
Belterra · highest
211,471 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 Decatur 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: 7,087.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Decatur - the verdict
Nationally, Decatur sits in the 52nd percentile for household income and the 34th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
52nd
percentile, household income
54th
percentile, home value
40th
percentile, median rent
34th
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: Decatur, TX
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 7,087 residents in Decatur, a small town within Texas. The typical household in Decatur brings in $71,919 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 3.8%. Typical homes in Decatur are valued around $242,200, and the median resident age is 37.5 years. About 23.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 59.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 246 residential building permits were authorized in Decatur (Rapid Growth), up 44% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 1946.3 crimes per 100,000 residents, near 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 65.0°F with 38.9 inches of precipitation per year and 0.8 inches of snowfall.
Texas tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Texas at 97.1 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Near Average). 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). Natural-hazard exposure scores 49.0 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Decatur'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 within-city variation to climate and hazard context to work and mobility to reported crime to schools and households to population change to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Decatur, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What can 16 Census tracts reveal inside Decatur?
PlainCities matches 16 Census tracts to this city.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
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 65.0°F, with 38.9 inches of precipitation and 0.8 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Decatur?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 86.8%. 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. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Decatur?
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 Seminole (7,097 residents, $62,325 income); Northlake (7,138 residents, $119,803 income); Gonzales (7,180 residents, $50,324 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Cortland, OH (7,091 residents); Lionville, PA (7,091 residents); River Rouge, MI (7,092 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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Decatur?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1946.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 15% lower 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
1946.3
Violent rate
140.7
Property rate
1805.6
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
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 6 public schools within the city match. 23.2% 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
3.8%
Bachelor's degree+
23.2%
Matched public schools
6
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +2,365 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +35.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 246 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.
2020 estimate
6,664
2025 estimate
9,029
Period change
+35.5%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
How far does income reach against housing in Decatur?
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 3.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.4×
Home value
$242,200
Household income
$71,919
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 3.8% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Texas average
C
City profile score · Decatur, TX
57/100
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.
Poverty rate B
3.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime C+
141 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
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 C-
$71,919
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share D
23.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Decatur profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 73/100 (B) · 3.8%
Violent crime: 61/100 (C+) · 141 /100k
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Household income: 51/100 (C-) · $71,919
Bachelor's+ share: 44/100 (D) · 23.2%
Where Decatur sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Decatur'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 - Decatur highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Decatur, TX (this city): home $242,200, crime 1,946/100k
Cortland, OH : home $199,300, crime 539/100k
Fircrest, WA : home $554,600, crime 2,086/100k
Milton-Freewater, OR : home $209,800, crime 1,994/100k
Seminole, TX : home $151,000, crime 1,043/100k
Northlake, TX : home $482,700, crime 1,585/100k
Gonzales, TX : home $184,600, crime 3,384/100k
Jasper, TX : home $130,200, crime 2,503/100k
Sealy, TX : home $222,200, crime 1,069/100k
How does Decatur compare to other US cities?
Decatur measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income52% higher than other cities
Home value54% pricier than other cities
Median rent40% pricier than other cities
Safety34% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Texas and the picture shifts: Decatur ranks #444 of 624 Texas cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Decatur 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 Decatur near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Decatur ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Decatur only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#557 of 1,520
63rd percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Median Home Value
#410 of 1,505
73rd percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#1,215 of 1,663
27th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#555 of 1,663
66th 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
52nd percentile nationally for median household income · 34th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Decatur's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Decatur'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 Decatur's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$242,20046th percentilemore affordable than 46% 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
Decatur's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,426 of 15,516
More affordable than 46% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,860 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.4×, Decatur sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,426 of 15,516 and #6,860 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
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
$71,919Decatur, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Decatur, 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 Decatur, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)23.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)59.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
7,087
Median Income
$71,919
Median Home Value
$242,200
Median Age
37.5
Poverty Rate
3.8%
Labor force participation
59.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
23.2%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1946.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
140.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1805.6
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
65.0°F
Annual Precipitation
38.9"
Annual Snowfall
0.8"
Schools
Total Schools
6
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Decatur's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
6,664 residents
2021
6,923 residents
2022
7,200 residents
2023
8,006 residents
2024
8,273 residents
2025
9,029 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Rapid Growth
Total Permits (2024)
246
housing units authorized
Single-Family
3
detached homes
Multifamily
243
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
34.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
171
21
150
$19.2M
2020
21
21
0
$4.9M
2021
32
28
4
$7.2M
2022
248
8
240
$32.7M
2023
4
4
0
$1.1M
2024
246
3
243
$30.3M
Permit volume increased 44% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
86.8%
Carpool
7.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.2%
Work from Home
6.0%
Based on 3,317 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 Decatur. 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 Decatur 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 Decatur sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Decatur 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.