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Place dossier plate
SheetTX-ODESSA-TX · Odessa, TX 114,080 pop · income 54th pct · 33 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 Odessa
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Odessa on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Waterbury · lowest
51,642
Waterbury · lowest
51,642 median HH income
36.5% of the leader · rank #1
Brush · near
73,026
Brush · near
73,026 median HH income
51.7% of the leader · rank #2
Odessa · this city
73,030
Odessa · this city
73,030 median HH income
51.7% of the leader · rank #3
Coal City · near
73,030
Coal City · near
73,030 median HH income
51.7% of the leader · rank #4
Emerson · near
73,036
Emerson · near
73,036 median HH income
51.7% of the leader · rank #5
Lowrey · near
73,036
Lowrey · near
73,036 median HH income
51.7% of the leader · rank #6
The Woodlands · highest
141,353
The Woodlands · highest
141,353 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 Odessa 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: 114,080.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Odessa - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Odessa lands in the 54th percentile for household income and the 29th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
54th
percentile, household income
45th
percentile, home value
40th
percentile, median rent
29th
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: Odessa, TX
Odessa is a mid-sized U.S. city in Texas, home to 114,080 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Odessa brings in $73,030 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 11.6%. Home values in Odessa run a median of $208,000, and the median resident age is 31.0 years. Educational attainment runs 18.3% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 65.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 1,004 residential building permits were authorized in Odessa (Construction Slowdown), down 44% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2158.8 crimes per 100,000 residents, near the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 64.4°F with 12.3 inches of precipitation per year and 0.9 inches of snowfall.
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). 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). 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 Odessa'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to within-city variation to reported crime to climate and hazard context to population change to schools and households to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Odessa, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Odessa?
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 11.6%, 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 Odessa?
Within Texas, the closest population matches are Beaumont (113,710 residents, $57,530 income); League City (114,885 residents, $119,870 income); The Woodlands (116,916 residents, $141,353 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Elgin, IL (114,106 residents); Provo, UT (114,303 residents); Waterbury, CT (114,356 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.
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 33 Census tracts to this city.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Odessa?
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 2158.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 5% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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 Odessa?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 64.4°F, with 12.3 inches of precipitation and 0.9 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.
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.
Mean temperature
64.4°F
Annual precipitation
12.3 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
49.0
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +7,785 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +6.8% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1,004 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
+6.8%
2025 estimate
122,707
2020 estimate
114,922
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
The NCES join finds 52 public schools within the city match. 18.3% 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.
Matched public schools
52
Bachelor's degree+
18.3%
Poverty estimate
11.6%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What does the journey to work look like in Odessa?
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 83.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.2%
Work from home
3.1%
Drive alone
83.2%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 53,970 workers age 16+.
Above median income · poverty 11.6% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Texas average
D
City profile score · Odessa, TX
41/100
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 C-
$73,030
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 F
11.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
316 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
18.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Odessa profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 53/100 (C-) · $73,030
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Poverty rate: 33/100 (F) · 11.6%
Violent crime: 31/100 (F) · 316 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 29/100 (F) · 18.3%
Where Odessa sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Odessa'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 - Odessa highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Odessa, TX (this city): home $208,000, crime 2,159/100k
Elgin, IL : home $252,400, crime 1,369/100k
Provo, UT : home $437,100, crime 1,477/100k
Waterbury, CT : home $185,400, crime 3,241/100k
Springfield, IL : home $155,200, crime 5,813/100k
Carlsbad, CA : home $1,156,900, crime 1,710/100k
Beaumont, TX : home $158,800, crime 4,440/100k
League City, TX : home $334,000, crime 1,264/100k
Richardson, TX : home $405,600, crime 1,980/100k
Sugar Land, TX : home $406,600, crime 1,462/100k
Tyler, TX : home $216,400, crime 2,305/100k
How does Odessa compare to other US cities?
Odessa measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income54% higher than other cities
Home value45% pricier than other cities
Median rent40% pricier than other cities
Safety29% 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, Odessa ranks #475 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 Odessa 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 Odessa near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Odessa ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Odessa only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#537 of 1,520
65th percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Median Home Value
#530 of 1,505
65th percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#668 of 1,663
60th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#755 of 1,663
54th 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
54th percentile nationally for median household income · 29th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Odessa's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Odessa'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 Odessa's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$208,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 55% 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
Odessa's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,849 of 15,516
More affordable than 62% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#93 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 2.8×, Odessa sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,849 of 15,516 and #93 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
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
$73,030Odessa, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Odessa, 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 Odessa, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)11.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
114,080
Median Income
$73,030
Median Home Value
$208,000
Median Age
31.0
Poverty Rate
11.6%
Labor force participation
65.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2158.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
316.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1842.5
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
64.4°F
Annual Precipitation
12.3"
Annual Snowfall
0.9"
Schools
Total Schools
52
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Odessa's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
114,922 residents
2021
112,281 residents
2022
113,574 residents
2023
116,738 residents
2024
120,189 residents
2025
122,707 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
1,004
housing units authorized
Single-Family
1,004
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
8.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1,782
743
1,039
$297.2M
2020
1,188
898
290
$245.1M
2021
1,406
1,373
33
$330.8M
2022
888
888
0
$227.5M
2023
690
690
0
$197.0M
2024
1,004
1,004
0
$226.8M
Permit volume decreased 44% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
83.2%
Carpool
11.0%
Public Transit
0.2%
Walk
1.0%
Work from Home
3.1%
Other
1.5%
Based on 53,970 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 Odessa. 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 Odessa 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 Odessa sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Odessa 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.