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-JEFFERSON-TX · Jefferson, TX 2,111 pop · income 8th pct · 4 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 Jefferson
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Jefferson on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Peggs · lowest
40,859
Peggs · lowest
40,859 median HH income
45.6% of the leader · rank #1
Edinboro · near
40,862
Edinboro · near
40,862 median HH income
45.6% of the leader · rank #2
Jefferson · this city
40,865
Jefferson · this city
40,865 median HH income
45.6% of the leader · rank #3
Oshkosh · near
40,865
Oshkosh · near
40,865 median HH income
45.6% of the leader · rank #4
Horseshoe Bend · near
40,868
Horseshoe Bend · near
40,868 median HH income
45.6% of the leader · rank #5
West Waynesbu… · near
40,869
West Waynesbu… · near
40,869 median HH income
45.6% of the leader · rank #6
Bells · highest
89,635
Bells · highest
89,635 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 Jefferson 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: 2,111.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Jefferson - the verdict
Jefferson ranks in the 8th percentile for household income and the 17th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
8th
percentile, household income
25th
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: Jefferson, TX
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 2,111 residents in Jefferson, a small town within Texas. Jefferson households earn a median of $40,865 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 18.5%. Home values in Jefferson run a median of $143,800, and the median resident age is 41.7 years. Educational attainment runs 26.7% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 53.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 15 residential building permits were authorized in Jefferson (Building Boom), up 275% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Jefferson's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2878.9 crimes per 100,000 residents, above 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 64.7°F with 49.7 inches of precipitation per year and 1.3 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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,149 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Texas's average monthly utility costs around $223 (state average). 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 Jefferson'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 schools and households to population change to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to within-city variation to work and mobility to housing and income to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Jefferson, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, local building permits.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Jefferson?
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 4 public schools within the city match. 26.7% 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.
Is Jefferson growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +54 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 15 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Jefferson?
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 Meadowlakes (2,113 residents, $79,635 income); Bells (2,101 residents, $89,635 income); Quanah (2,100 residents, $51,985 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Weston, NJ (2,111 residents); New Carlisle, IN (2,110 residents); Sumrall, MS (2,112 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.
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.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Jefferson?
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 64.7°F, with 49.7 inches of precipitation and 1.3 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.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
49.0
Annual precipitation
49.7 in
Mean temperature
64.7°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What does the journey to work look like in Jefferson?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.0%. 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.
Drive alone
76.0%
Work from home
2.7%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 896 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Jefferson?
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 3.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 18.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.5×
Home value
$143,800
Household income
$40,865
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Jefferson?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2878.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 26% 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
2878.9
Violent rate
271.6
Property rate
2607.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 18.5% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Texas average
F
City profile score · Jefferson, TX
31/100
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.
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.
Bachelor's+ share C-
26.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime F
272 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate F
18.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$40,865
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Jefferson profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Bachelor's+ share: 52/100 (C-) · 26.7%
Violent crime: 37/100 (F) · 272 /100k
Poverty rate: 16/100 (F) · 18.5%
Household income: 8/100 (F) · $40,865
Where Jefferson sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Jefferson'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 - Jefferson highlighted among 25 peers.Read the chart values
Jefferson, TX (this city): home $143,800, crime 2,879/100k
Questa, NM : home $225,300, crime 835/100k
Brewster, OH : home $133,200, crime 524/100k
Bells, TX : home $208,000, crime 263/100k
Shepherd, TX : home $144,100, crime 556/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Jefferson compare to other US cities?
Where Jefferson sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income8% higher than other cities
Home value25% 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, Jefferson ranks #551 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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Jefferson ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Jefferson only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,353 of 1,520
11th percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Median Home Value
#847 of 1,505
44th percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#370 of 1,663
77th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#454 of 1,663
73rd 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
8th percentile nationally for median household income · 17th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Jefferson's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Jefferson'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 Jefferson's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$143,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 75% 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
Jefferson's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,036 of 15,516
More affordable than 42% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,284 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.5×, Jefferson sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,036 of 15,516 and #7,284 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
$40,865Jefferson, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Jefferson, 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 Jefferson, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)26.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)18.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)53.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,111
Median Income
$40,865
Median Home Value
$143,800
Median Age
41.7
Poverty Rate
18.5%
Labor force participation
53.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
26.7%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2878.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
271.6
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2607.3
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
64.7°F
Annual Precipitation
49.7"
Annual Snowfall
1.3"
Schools
Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Jefferson's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,002 residents
2021
1,986 residents
2022
1,985 residents
2023
1,996 residents
2024
2,028 residents
2025
2,056 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
15
housing units authorized
Single-Family
11
detached homes
Multifamily
4
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
7.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
4
4
0
$0.6M
2020
11
11
0
$1.3M
2021
12
6
6
$1.4M
2022
5
5
0
$1.3M
2023
9
5
4
$1.4M
2024
15
11
4
$3.8M
Permit volume increased 275% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
76.0%
Carpool
15.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.8%
Work from Home
2.7%
Other
5.3%
Based on 896 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 Jefferson. 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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Jefferson 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.