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Place dossier plate
SheetTX-KEMAH-TX · Kemah, TX 1,952 pop · income 75th 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 Kemah
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Kemah on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Siesta Shores · lowest
33,264
Siesta Shores · lowest
33,264 median HH income
32.1% of the leader · rank #1
Mount Ephraim · near
95,137
Mount Ephraim · near
95,137 median HH income
91.9% of the leader · rank #2
Huber Ridge · near
95,141
Huber Ridge · near
95,141 median HH income
91.9% of the leader · rank #3
Frederick · near
95,150
Frederick · near
95,150 median HH income
92.0% of the leader · rank #4
Kemah · this city
95,152
Kemah · this city
95,152 median HH income
92.0% of the leader · rank #5
Lakeville · near
95,156
Lakeville · near
95,156 median HH income
92.0% of the leader · rank #6
Melrose Park · highest
103,472
Melrose Park · highest
103,472 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 Kemah 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: 1,952.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Kemah - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Kemah lands in the 75th percentile for household income and the 10th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
75th
percentile, household income
59th
percentile, home value
40th
percentile, median rent
10th
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: Kemah, TX
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 1,952 residents in Kemah, a small town within Texas. Households in Kemah report a median income of $95,152 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 13.6%. Typical homes in Kemah are valued around $268,900, and the median resident age is 38.6 years. About 33.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 68.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 131 residential building permits were authorized in Kemah (Building Boom), up 589% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Kemah's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 3630.1 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, above the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,149 per month. 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 Kemah'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 reported crime to work and mobility to housing and income to comparison shortlist to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Kemah, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, annual population history, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Kemah growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,285 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +70.9% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 131 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Kemah?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3630.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 59% 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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 73.1%. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Kemah?
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 Johnson City (1,952 residents, $47,232 income); Siesta Shores (1,939 residents, $33,264 income); Troup (1,965 residents, $51,563 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are McConnell AFB, KS (1,952 residents); Centerburg, OH (1,952 residents); Indian Springs, GA (1,951 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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Kemah?
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 13.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.8×
Home value
$268,900
Household income
$95,152
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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. 33.0% 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
13.6%
Bachelor's degree+
33.0%
Matched public schools
1
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 13.6% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Texas average
C-
City profile score · Kemah, TX
52/100
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.
Household income B
$95,152
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share C+
33.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; 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.
Violent crime D
240 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate F
13.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Kemah profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 74/100 (B) · $95,152
Bachelor's+ share: 63/100 (C+) · 33.0%
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Violent crime: 42/100 (D) · 240 /100k
Poverty rate: 25/100 (F) · 13.6%
Where Kemah sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Kemah'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 - Kemah highlighted among 22 peers.Read the chart values
Kemah, TX (this city): home $268,900, crime 3,630/100k
Great Barrington, MA : home $459,000, crime 959/100k
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 Kemah compare to other US cities?
Kemah measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income75% higher than other cities
Home value59% pricier than other cities
Median rent40% pricier than other cities
Safety10% 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: Kemah ranks #588 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 Kemah 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 Kemah near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Kemah ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Kemah only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#285 of 1,520
81st percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Median Home Value
#340 of 1,505
77th percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#566 of 1,663
66th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#327 of 1,663
80th 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
75th percentile nationally for median household income · 10th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Kemah's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Kemah'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 Kemah's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$268,90041st percentilemore affordable than 41% 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
Kemah's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,729 of 15,516
More affordable than 63% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,958 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.8×, Kemah sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,729 of 15,516 and #4,958 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
$95,152Kemah, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Kemah, 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 Kemah, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)33.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)13.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)68.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,952
Median Income
$95,152
Median Home Value
$268,900
Median Age
38.6
Poverty Rate
13.6%
Labor force participation
68.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
33.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3630.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
239.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3390.4
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.
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
Kemah's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,812 residents
2021
1,808 residents
2022
1,800 residents
2023
2,561 residents
2024
2,847 residents
2025
3,097 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
131
housing units authorized
Single-Family
131
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
67.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
19
3
16
$2.3M
2020
6
2
4
$3.2M
2021
4
4
0
$3.4M
2022
381
17
364
$42.2M
2023
145
145
0
$38.1M
2024
131
131
0
$40.5M
Permit volume increased 589% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
73.1%
Carpool
11.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.5%
Work from Home
13.1%
Other
1.7%
Based on 1,045 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 Kemah. 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 Kemah 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 Kemah sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Kemah 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, 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.