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Place dossier plate
SheetTX-LAKE-JACKSON-TX · Lake Jackson, TX 27,902 pop · income 71st pct · 78 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 Lake Jackson
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Lake Jackson on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
New Iberia · lowest
50,802
New Iberia · lowest
50,802 median HH income
32.6% of the leader · rank #1
Lake Jackson · this city
89,623
Lake Jackson · this city
89,623 median HH income
57.5% of the leader · rank #2
Falmouth · near
89,625
Falmouth · near
89,625 median HH income
57.5% of the leader · rank #3
Thorp · near
89,625
Thorp · near
89,625 median HH income
57.5% of the leader · rank #4
Clarkston Hei… · near
89,628
Clarkston Hei… · near
89,628 median HH income
57.5% of the leader · rank #5
South Lakes · near
89,632
South Lakes · near
89,632 median HH income
57.5% of the leader · rank #6
Celina · highest
155,875
Celina · highest
155,875 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 Lake Jackson 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: 27,902.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Lake Jackson - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Lake Jackson lands in the 71st percentile for household income and the 32nd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
71st
percentile, household income
56th
percentile, home value
40th
percentile, median rent
32nd
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: Lake Jackson, TX
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 27,902 residents in Lake Jackson, a small city within Texas. Median household income here is $89,623 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 11.2%. Lake Jackson's housing stock carries a median value of $248,900, and the median resident age is 34.7 years. 28.6% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 62.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 5 residential building permits were authorized in Lake Jackson (Construction Slowdown), down 90% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 2000.4 incidents per 100,000 residents, near the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,149 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Texas run around $223, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 49.0 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Lake Jackson'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 schools and households to housing and income to work and mobility to population change to comparison shortlist to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Lake Jackson, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Within-city variation
What can 78 Census tracts reveal inside Lake Jackson?
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.
PlainCities matches 78 Census tracts to this city.
What does the education layer cover for Lake Jackson?
The NCES join finds 7 public schools within the city match. 28.6% 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.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in Lake Jackson?
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 11.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Lake Jackson?
Within Texas, the closest population matches are Alvin (27,700 residents, $68,769 income); Eagle Pass (28,186 residents, $54,952 income); Forney (28,222 residents, $103,360 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Milford, MA (27,919 residents); Danvers, MA (27,924 residents); New Iberia, LA (27,926 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.
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.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Lake Jackson?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 84.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
5.3%
Drive alone
84.3%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 13,221 workers age 16+.
Is Lake Jackson growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -336 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 5 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
-1.2%
2025 estimate
27,803
2020 estimate
28,139
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Lake Jackson?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2000.4 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 12% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
1740.0
Violent rate
260.5
Total reported rate
2000.4
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Above median income · poverty 11.2% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Texas average
C-
City profile score · Lake Jackson, TX
51/100
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-
$89,623
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share C
28.6%
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 F
261 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate F
11.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Lake Jackson profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 69/100 (B-) · $89,623
Bachelor's+ share: 56/100 (C) · 28.6%
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Violent crime: 39/100 (F) · 261 /100k
Poverty rate: 35/100 (F) · 11.2%
Where Lake Jackson sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Lake Jackson'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 - Lake Jackson highlighted among 13 peers.Read the chart values
Lake Jackson, TX (this city): home $248,900, crime 2,000/100k
Milford, MA : home $429,800, crime 1,188/100k
Danvers, MA : home $611,200, crime 1,618/100k
New Iberia, LA : home $150,300, crime 4,135/100k
Huntley, IL : home $318,500, crime 457/100k
Walnut, CA : home $972,500, crime 2,019/100k
Williston, ND : home $262,700, crime 2,753/100k
Alvin, TX : home $212,500, crime 1,863/100k
Eagle Pass, TX : home $192,600, crime 2,041/100k
Forney, TX : home $323,500, crime 808/100k
Balch Springs, TX : home $208,200, crime 3,233/100k
Celina, TX : home $458,000, crime 1,467/100k
Converse, TX : home $240,100, crime 1,873/100k
How does Lake Jackson compare to other US cities?
Here's how Lake Jackson stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income71% higher than other cities
Home value56% pricier than other cities
Median rent40% pricier than other cities
Safety32% 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: Lake Jackson ranks #455 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 Lake Jackson 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 Lake Jackson near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Lake Jackson ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Lake Jackson only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#334 of 1,520
78th percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Median Home Value
#391 of 1,505
74th percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#689 of 1,663
58th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#410 of 1,663
75th 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
71st percentile nationally for median household income · 32nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Lake Jackson's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Lake Jackson'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 Lake Jackson's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$248,90044th percentilemore affordable than 44% 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
Lake Jackson's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,454 of 15,516
More affordable than 65% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#630 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.8×, Lake Jackson sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,454 of 15,516 and #630 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$89,623Lake Jackson, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Lake Jackson, 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 Lake Jackson, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)28.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)11.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)62.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
27,902
Median Income
$89,623
Median Home Value
$248,900
Median Age
34.7
Poverty Rate
11.2%
Labor force participation
62.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
28.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2000.4
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
260.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1740.0
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
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Lake Jackson's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
28,139 residents
2021
27,893 residents
2022
27,712 residents
2023
27,859 residents
2024
28,043 residents
2025
27,803 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
5
housing units authorized
Single-Family
5
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
49
49
0
$13.0M
2020
35
35
0
$10.3M
2021
21
21
0
$6.5M
2022
73
73
0
$18.7M
2023
69
69
0
$18.7M
2024
5
5
0
$1.4M
Permit volume decreased 90% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
84.3%
Carpool
8.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.6%
Work from Home
5.3%
Other
1.5%
Based on 13,221 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 Lake Jackson. 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 Lake Jackson 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 Lake Jackson sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Lake Jackson 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.