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Place dossier plate
SheetTX-ROBY-TX · Roby, TX 691 pop · income 40th 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 Roby
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Roby on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Joaquin · lowest
34,659
Joaquin · lowest
34,659 median HH income
31.3% of the leader · rank #1
Shady Hills · near
63,250
Shady Hills · near
63,250 median HH income
57.1% of the leader · rank #2
Harrogate · near
63,257
Harrogate · near
63,257 median HH income
57.1% of the leader · rank #3
Roby · this city
63,259
Roby · this city
63,259 median HH income
57.1% of the leader · rank #4
Camp Nelson · near
63,259
Camp Nelson · near
63,259 median HH income
57.1% of the leader · rank #5
Boardman · near
63,266
Boardman · near
63,266 median HH income
57.1% of the leader · rank #6
West Goshen · highest
110,750
West Goshen · highest
110,750 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Roby 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: 691.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Roby places in the 40th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
40th
percentile, household income
1st
percentile, home value
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: Roby, TX
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 691 residents in Roby, a small town within Texas. Households in Roby report a median income of $63,259 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 14.1%. Home values in Roby run a median of $55,000, and the median resident age is 36.6 years. Educational attainment runs 15.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 64.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
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. 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. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 49.0 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Roby'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 schools and households to work and mobility to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Roby, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, 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 Roby?
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 Pendleton (689 residents); Bluetown (688 residents); Driscoll (694 residents, $36,638 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Shelby, AL (691 residents); Wilton, AL (691 residents); Brevig Mission, AK (691 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.
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. 15.8% 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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 90.0%. 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. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Census PEP estimates show the population was unchanged by +0 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.0% 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.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
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 Roby?
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 0.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 14.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
0.9×
Home value
$55,000
Household income
$63,259
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 14.1% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Texas average
F
City profile score · Roby, TX
36/100
4 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.
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.
Household income F
$63,259
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
14.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
15.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Roby profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Household income: 39/100 (F) · $63,259
Poverty rate: 24/100 (F) · 14.1%
Bachelor's+ share: 22/100 (F) · 15.8%
How does Roby compare to other US cities?
Where Roby sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income40% higher than other cities
Home value1% pricier than other cities
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 Roby 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 Roby near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Roby ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Roby only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#766 of 1,520
50th percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Median Home Value
#1,444 of 1,505
4th percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#542 of 1,663
67th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#905 of 1,663
45th 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
40th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Roby's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$55,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 99% 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
Roby's home-value-to-income ratio: 0.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#20 of 15,516
More affordable than 100% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#20 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 0.9×, Roby sits in the affordable band:
national rank #20 of 15,516 and #20 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
$63,259Roby, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Roby, 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 Roby, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)14.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)64.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
691
Median Income
$63,259
Median Home Value
$55,000
Median Age
36.6
Poverty Rate
14.1%
Labor force participation
64.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.8%
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
Roby's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
589 residents
2021
588 residents
2022
583 residents
2023
578 residents
2024
588 residents
2025
589 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
90.0%
Carpool
2.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.8%
Work from Home
4.7%
Based on 320 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 Roby. 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 Roby 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 Roby sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Roby 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, NCES CCD, 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.