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Place dossier plate
SheetTX-DENTON-TX · Denton, TX 146,987 pop · income 55th pct · 193 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 Denton
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Denton on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Syracuse · lowest
45,845
Syracuse · lowest
45,845 median HH income
30.4% of the leader · rank #1
West Hamburg · near
73,712
West Hamburg · near
73,712 median HH income
48.8% of the leader · rank #2
Denton · this city
73,719
Denton · this city
73,719 median HH income
48.8% of the leader · rank #3
Homer · near
73,723
Homer · near
73,723 median HH income
48.8% of the leader · rank #4
Toftrees · near
73,724
Toftrees · near
73,724 median HH income
48.8% of the leader · rank #5
Racine · near
73,724
Racine · near
73,724 median HH income
48.8% of the leader · rank #6
Naperville · highest
150,937
Naperville · highest
150,937 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 Denton 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: 146,987.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Denton - the verdict
Nationally, Denton sits in the 55th percentile for household income and the 33rd percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
55th
percentile, household income
69th
percentile, home value
40th
percentile, median rent
33rd
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: Denton, TX
Denton is a mid-sized U.S. city in Texas, home to 146,987 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $73,719 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.8%. Denton's housing stock carries a median value of $325,700, and the median resident age is 31.0 years. Educational attainment runs 41.9% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 63.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 1,976 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Growing), up 5% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 1948.8 in FBI UCR data, near the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 65.4°F with 38.4 inches of precipitation per year.
Texas tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Texas scores 97.1 (Near Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,149 monthly. 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 Denton'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 climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change to schools and households to reported crime to within-city variation to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Denton, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Denton?
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 65.4°F, with 38.4 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Denton?
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 Mesquite (148,848 residents, $71,843 income); Pasadena (149,345 residents, $64,270 income); McAllen (143,789 residents, $60,165 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Savannah, GA (147,546 residents); Rockford, IL (147,649 residents); Syracuse, NY (146,211 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Denton?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 69.3%. 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.
PlainCities matches 193 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.
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.
Population change
Is Denton growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +28,290 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +20.0% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1,976 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
141,141
2025 estimate
169,431
Period change
+20.0%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
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 32 public schools within the city match. 41.9% 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
7.8%
Bachelor's degree+
41.9%
Matched public schools
32
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Denton?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1948.8 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
1948.8
Violent rate
204.2
Property rate
1744.6
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Denton?
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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
4.4×
Home value
$325,700
Household income
$73,719
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 7.8% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Texas average
C-
City profile score · Denton, TX
54/100
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 B+
41.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C-
$73,719
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
7.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime D
204 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Denton profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 77/100 (B+) · 41.9%
Household income: 53/100 (C-) · $73,719
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Poverty rate: 48/100 (D) · 7.8%
Violent crime: 47/100 (D) · 204 /100k
Where Denton sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Denton'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 - Denton highlighted among 13 peers.Read the chart values
Denton, TX (this city): home $325,700, crime 1,949/100k
Savannah, GA : home $225,200, crime 20/100k
Rockford, IL : home $120,900, crime 3,597/100k
Syracuse, NY : home $125,100, crime 5,000/100k
Bridgeport, CT : home $252,400, crime 1,862/100k
Pomona, CA : home $569,600, crime 3,469/100k
Naperville, IL : home $509,900, crime 967/100k
Mesquite, TX : home $226,500, crime 3,478/100k
Pasadena, TX : home $193,600, crime 2,918/100k
McAllen, TX : home $173,800, crime 1,986/100k
Waco, TX : home $199,600, crime 2,552/100k
Killeen, TX : home $196,000, crime 1,910/100k
Midland, TX : home $298,600, crime 1,977/100k
How does Denton compare to other US cities?
Where Denton sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income55% higher than other cities
Home value69% pricier than other cities
Median rent40% pricier than other cities
Safety33% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Texas alone, Denton ranks #446 of 624 Texas cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Denton 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 Denton near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Denton ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Denton only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#527 of 1,520
65th percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Median Home Value
#219 of 1,505
85th percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#901 of 1,663
45th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#202 of 1,663
88th 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
55th percentile nationally for median household income · 33rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Denton's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Denton'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 Denton's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$325,70031st percentilemore affordable than 31% 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
Denton's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,816 of 15,516
More affordable than 24% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#388 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 4.4×, Denton sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,816 of 15,516 and #388 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
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
$73,719Denton, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Denton, 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 Denton, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)41.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)63.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
146,987
Median Income
$73,719
Median Home Value
$325,700
Median Age
31.0
Poverty Rate
7.8%
Labor force participation
63.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
41.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1948.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
204.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1744.6
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
65.4°F
Annual Precipitation
38.4"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
32
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Denton's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
141,141 residents
2021
147,288 residents
2022
150,969 residents
2023
159,300 residents
2024
166,235 residents
2025
169,431 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Growing
Total Permits (2024)
1,976
housing units authorized
Single-Family
856
detached homes
Multifamily
1,120
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
13.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1,881
994
887
$421.7M
2020
2,860
985
1,875
$510.5M
2021
1,665
1,203
462
$428.7M
2022
4,041
1,832
2,209
$940.6M
2023
3,292
1,311
1,981
$787.9M
2024
1,976
856
1,120
$566.1M
Permit volume increased 5% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
69.3%
Carpool
11.3%
Public Transit
0.9%
Walk
3.7%
Work from Home
12.2%
Other
2.6%
Based on 76,532 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 Denton. 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 Denton 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 Denton sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Denton 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.