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Place dossier plate
SheetTX-PORT-ISABEL-TX · Port Isabel, TX 5,098 pop · income 21st 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 Port Isabel
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Port Isabel on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Doffing · lowest
26,525
Doffing · lowest
26,525 median HH income
12.2% of the leader · rank #1
Port Isabel · this city
50,775
Port Isabel · this city
50,775 median HH income
23.3% of the leader · rank #2
Sebewaing · near
50,779
Sebewaing · near
50,779 median HH income
23.3% of the leader · rank #3
Kiron · near
50,781
Kiron · near
50,781 median HH income
23.3% of the leader · rank #4
St. Ignatius · near
50,781
St. Ignatius · near
50,781 median HH income
23.3% of the leader · rank #5
Point Marion · near
50,781
Point Marion · near
50,781 median HH income
23.3% of the leader · rank #6
Terrell Hills · highest
217,800
Terrell Hills · highest
217,800 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 Port Isabel 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: 5,098.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Port Isabel - the verdict
Nationally, Port Isabel sits in the 21st percentile for household income and the 7th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
21st
percentile, household income
18th
percentile, home value
40th
percentile, median rent
7th
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: Port Isabel, TX
Texas's Port Isabel is a small town, with 5,098 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Port Isabel brings in $50,775 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 14.6%. Home values in Port Isabel run a median of $120,900, and the median resident age is 38.8 years. 15.6% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 56.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 40 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 1900% from five years earlier. Port Isabel's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 4194.2 in FBI UCR data, above the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 74.0°F with 28.8 inches of precipitation per year and 0.2 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). 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 Port Isabel'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 to reported crime to climate and hazard context to schools and households to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Port Isabel, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares.
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.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Port Isabel?
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 Giddings (5,085 residents, $51,397 income); Doffing (5,126 residents, $26,525 income); Justin (5,068 residents, $93,887 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Heeia, HI (5,099 residents); Saranac Lake, NY (5,099 residents); Midfield, AL (5,101 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Port Isabel?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 80.7%. 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.
Is Port Isabel growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +272 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 40 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 Port Isabel?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 4194.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 84% 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.
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 Port Isabel?
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 74.0°F, with 28.8 inches of precipitation and 0.2 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
28.8 in
Mean temperature
74.0°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What does the education layer cover for Port Isabel?
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 5 public schools within the city match. 15.6% 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.
Poverty estimate
14.6%
Bachelor's degree+
15.6%
Matched public schools
5
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Port Isabel?
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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 14.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.4×
Home value
$120,900
Household income
$50,775
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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.
Violent crime F
369 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate F
14.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
15.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$50,775
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Port Isabel profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Violent crime: 24/100 (F) · 369 /100k
Poverty rate: 23/100 (F) · 14.6%
Bachelor's+ share: 22/100 (F) · 15.6%
Household income: 21/100 (F) · $50,775
Where Port Isabel sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Port Isabel'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 - Port Isabel highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Port Isabel, TX (this city): home $120,900, crime 4,194/100k
Midfield, AL : home $93,700, crime 983/100k
Giddings, TX : home $192,800, crime 1,328/100k
Justin, TX : home $364,500, crime 884/100k
Terrell Hills, TX : home $762,200, crime 1,758/100k
Hickory Creek, TX : home $510,100, crime 928/100k
Hudson, TX : home $169,000, crime 377/100k
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 Port Isabel compare to other US cities?
Here's how Port Isabel stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income21% higher than other cities
Home value18% pricier than other cities
Median rent40% pricier than other cities
Safety7% 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, Port Isabel ranks #604 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 Port Isabel 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 Port Isabel near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Port Isabel ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Port Isabel only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,122 of 1,520
26th percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Median Home Value
#966 of 1,505
36th percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#522 of 1,663
69th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#920 of 1,663
44th 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
21st percentile nationally for median household income · 7th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Port Isabel's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Port Isabel'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 Port Isabel's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$120,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 82% 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
Port Isabel's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,381 of 15,516
More affordable than 78% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,089 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.4×, Port Isabel sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,381 of 15,516 and #3,089 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
$50,775Port Isabel, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Port Isabel, 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 Port Isabel, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)14.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)56.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,098
Median Income
$50,775
Median Home Value
$120,900
Median Age
38.8
Poverty Rate
14.6%
Labor force participation
56.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
4194.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
368.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3825.2
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
74.0°F
Annual Precipitation
28.8"
Annual Snowfall
0.2"
Schools
Total Schools
5
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Port Isabel's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
5,030 residents
2021
5,096 residents
2022
5,136 residents
2023
5,173 residents
2024
5,259 residents
2025
5,302 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
40
housing units authorized
Single-Family
11
detached homes
Multifamily
29
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
7.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
2
2
0
$0.2M
2020
45
7
38
$4.8M
2021
22
20
2
$4.6M
2022
30
26
4
$4.7M
2023
38
10
28
$6.9M
2024
40
11
29
$7.1M
Permit volume increased 1900% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
80.7%
Carpool
14.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.8%
Work from Home
1.5%
Other
2.6%
Based on 2,270 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 Port Isabel. 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 Port Isabel 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 Port Isabel sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Port Isabel 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.