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-SANTA-CRUZ-TX · Santa Cruz, TX 315 pop · income 52nd 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 Santa Cruz
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Santa Cruz on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Gary City · lowest
36,528
Gary City · lowest
36,528 median HH income
32.0% of the leader · rank #1
Santa Cruz · this city
71,750
Santa Cruz · this city
71,750 median HH income
62.9% of the leader · rank #2
Milner · near
71,750
Milner · near
71,750 median HH income
62.9% of the leader · rank #3
New Paris · near
71,750
New Paris · near
71,750 median HH income
62.9% of the leader · rank #4
St. Paul · near
71,750
St. Paul · near
71,750 median HH income
62.9% of the leader · rank #5
Mondamin · near
71,750
Mondamin · near
71,750 median HH income
62.9% of the leader · rank #6
Mesa Vista · highest
114,063
Mesa Vista · highest
114,063 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 Santa Cruz 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: 315.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Santa Cruz places in the 52nd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
52nd
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: Santa Cruz, TX
Texas's Santa Cruz is a small town, with 315 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $71,750 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. The median resident age is 67.5 years. About 0.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 14.2% 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). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,149 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $223 across Texas, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Santa Cruz'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Santa Cruz, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Santa Cruz?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 51.3%. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Santa Cruz?
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 Mobile City (316 residents); Morse (317 residents, $64,100 income); Rose Hill Acres (313 residents, $86,500 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Thornton, AR (315 residents); Mesa Vista, CA (315 residents); Gillsville, GA (315 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.
Above median income · poverty 0.0% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Texas average
C-
City profile score · Santa Cruz, TX
54/100
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.
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.
Household income C-
$71,750
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
0.0%
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).
Santa Cruz 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
Household income: 51/100 (C-) · $71,750
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 0.0%
How does Santa Cruz compare to other US cities?
Here's how Santa Cruz stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income52% 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 Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Santa Cruz ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Santa Cruz only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#560 of 1,520
63rd percentile in Texas
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
#1,582 of 1,663
0th 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
52nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$71,750Santa Cruz, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Santa Cruz, 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 Santa Cruz, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)0.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)14.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
315
Median Income
$71,750
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
67.5
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
14.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
0.0%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
51.3%
Carpool
48.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 39 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 Santa Cruz. 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 Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Santa Cruz 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.