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.
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.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Novice on ACS population and median household income
. 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: 121.
121 people call Novice, Texas home. Source: Census ACS.
40th
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Novice, TX
121 people live in Novice, Texas - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The median resident age is 37.5 years. About 10.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 51.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. Monthly utility costs average around $223 across Texas, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Novice'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Novice, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Novice?
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.
Within Texas, the closest population matches are La Escondida (121 residents); Loop (121 residents, $35,500 income); Bledsoe (120 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Cantwell, AK (121 residents); Mead Ranch, AZ (121 residents); Bassett, AR (121 residents). 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 Novice?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 42.0%. 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. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +2 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.7% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. 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.
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 A+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better 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.
Bachelor's+ share F
10.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income N/A
N/A
No ACS median household income on file for this place.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Novice profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Bachelor's+ share: 7/100 (F) · 10.1%
How does Novice compare to other US cities?
Where Novice sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Median rent40% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Novice 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 Novice near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Novice ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Novice only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#1,440 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,250 of 1,663
24th 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.
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for Novice in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)10.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)51.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
121
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
37.5
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
51.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
10.1%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Novice's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
120 residents
2021
120 residents
2022
122 residents
2023
122 residents
2024
124 residents
2025
122 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
42.0%
Carpool
22.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
22.0%
Other
14.0%
Based on 50 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 Novice. 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 Novice 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 Novice sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Novice 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, 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.