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.
Place dossier plate
SheetTX-ROCHESTER-TX · Rochester, TX 260 pop · income 13th 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 Rochester
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Rochester on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Scottsville · lowest
36,324
Scottsville · lowest
36,324 median HH income
23.0% of the leader · rank #1
Rochester · this city
45,000
Rochester · this city
45,000 median HH income
28.5% of the leader · rank #2
Chalkyitsik · near
45,000
Chalkyitsik · near
45,000 median HH income
28.5% of the leader · rank #3
St. Mary's · near
45,000
St. Mary's · near
45,000 median HH income
28.5% of the leader · rank #4
Dyess · near
45,000
Dyess · near
45,000 median HH income
28.5% of the leader · rank #5
Sugar City · near
45,000
Sugar City · near
45,000 median HH income
28.5% of the leader · rank #6
Spring Branch · highest
157,694
Spring Branch · highest
157,694 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 Rochester 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: 260.
Nationally, Rochester sits in the 13th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
13th
percentile, household income
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: Rochester, TX
260 people live in Rochester, Texas - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $45,000 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 13.7%. The median resident age is 27.7 years. About 6.6% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 56.1% 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. 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 Rochester'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 Rochester, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Rochester?
Within Texas, the closest population matches are Garciasville (260 residents); Spring Branch (260 residents, $157,694 income); Havana (259 residents, $47,599 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are St. Charles, AR (260 residents); Mooar, IA (260 residents); Hanston, KS (260 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Rochester?
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 78.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Is Rochester growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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 +4 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.6% 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.
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.
Poverty rate F
13.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$45,000
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
6.6%
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).
Rochester profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Poverty rate: 25/100 (F) · 13.7%
Household income: 14/100 (F) · $45,000
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 6.6%
How does Rochester compare to other US cities?
Here's how Rochester stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income13% higher 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 Rochester 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 Rochester near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Rochester ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Rochester only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,261 of 1,520
17th percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#561 of 1,663
66th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,444 of 1,663
13th 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
13th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$45,000Rochester, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Rochester, 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 Rochester, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)6.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)13.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)56.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
260
Median Income
$45,000
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
27.7
Poverty Rate
13.7%
Labor force participation
56.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
6.6%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Rochester's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
251 residents
2021
248 residents
2022
251 residents
2023
252 residents
2024
254 residents
2025
255 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
78.4%
Carpool
5.4%
Public Transit
4.5%
Walk
9.9%
Work from Home
1.8%
Based on 111 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 Rochester. 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 Rochester 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 Rochester sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Rochester 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.