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Place dossier plate
SheetTX-STRATFORD-TX · Stratford, TX 1,321 pop · income 32nd pct · 1 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 Stratford
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Stratford on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
West Blocton · lowest
37,537
West Blocton · lowest
37,537 median HH income
21.7% of the leader · rank #1
Horse Pasture · near
57,637
Horse Pasture · near
57,637 median HH income
33.3% of the leader · rank #2
Stratford · this city
57,639
Stratford · this city
57,639 median HH income
33.3% of the leader · rank #3
Delcambre · near
57,639
Delcambre · near
57,639 median HH income
33.3% of the leader · rank #4
Hines · near
57,639
Hines · near
57,639 median HH income
33.3% of the leader · rank #5
Tavares · near
57,644
Tavares · near
57,644 median HH income
33.3% of the leader · rank #6
Indian Hills · highest
173,125
Indian Hills · highest
173,125 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 Stratford 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: 1,321.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Stratford - the verdict
Stratford ranks in the 32nd percentile for household income and the 88th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
32nd
percentile, household income
17th
percentile, home value
40th
percentile, median rent
88th
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: Stratford, TX
Texas's Stratford is a small town, with 1,321 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Stratford report a median income of $57,639 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 8.0%. Typical homes in Stratford are valued around $118,000, and the median resident age is 36.8 years. 29.8% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 57.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 17 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Rapid Growth), up 31% from five years earlier. Stratford reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 428.3 in FBI UCR data, below 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 56.5°F with 17.1 inches of precipitation per year and 17.4 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). 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 Stratford'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 reported crime to population change to schools and households to within-city variation to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to housing and income to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Stratford, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, commute-mode shares, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Stratford?
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 428.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 81% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Is Stratford 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 +36 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.9% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 17 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Stratford?
Within Texas, the closest population matches are Alvord (1,318 residents, $70,294 income); Dawson (1,324 residents, $57,596 income); Holland (1,315 residents, $66,827 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Dotsero, CO (1,321 residents); Middleburg, PA (1,321 residents); West Blocton, AL (1,320 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.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Stratford?
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 29.8% 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.
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
3
Bachelor's degree+
29.8%
Poverty estimate
8.0%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 56.5°F, with 17.1 inches of precipitation and 17.4 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
56.5°F
Annual precipitation
17.1 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Stratford?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 8.0%, 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. 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.
Household income
$57,639
Home value
$118,000
Value / income
2.0×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the journey to work look like in Stratford?
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 77.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
4.8%
Drive alone
77.7%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 605 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 8.0% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Texas average
C-
City profile score · Stratford, TX
53/100
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.
Violent crime A-
54 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C
29.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; 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 D
8.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$57,639
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Stratford profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 83/100 (A-) · 54 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 58/100 (C) · 29.8%
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Poverty rate: 48/100 (D) · 8.0%
Household income: 31/100 (F) · $57,639
Where Stratford sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Stratford'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 - Stratford highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Stratford, TX (this city): home $118,000, crime 428/100k
Middleburg, PA : home $151,000, crime 1,444/100k
West Blocton, AL : home $107,400, crime 2,456/100k
Three Oaks, MI : home $185,100, crime 652/100k
Dawson, TX : home $125,400, crime 122/100k
Holland, TX : home $180,200, crime 264/100k
Shoreacres, TX : home $277,300, crime 467/100k
Maypearl, TX : home $316,000, crime 306/100k
Wink, TX : home $137,200, crime 579/100k
How does Stratford compare to other US cities?
Where Stratford sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income32% higher than other cities
Home value17% pricier than other cities
Median rent40% pricier than other cities
Safety88% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Texas and the picture shifts: Stratford ranks #80 of 624 Texas cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Stratford 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 Stratford near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Stratford ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Stratford only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#915 of 1,520
40th percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Median Home Value
#992 of 1,505
34th percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#888 of 1,663
46th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#383 of 1,663
77th 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
32nd percentile nationally for median household income · 88th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Stratford's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Stratford'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 Stratford's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$118,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 83% 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
Stratford's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#1,804 of 15,516
More affordable than 88% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,722 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.0×, Stratford sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,804 of 15,516 and #1,722 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
$57,639Stratford, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Stratford, 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 Stratford, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)29.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,321
Median Income
$57,639
Median Home Value
$118,000
Median Age
36.8
Poverty Rate
8.0%
Labor force participation
57.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
29.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
428.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
53.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
374.7
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
56.5°F
Annual Precipitation
17.1"
Annual Snowfall
17.4"
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Stratford's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,942 residents
2021
1,944 residents
2022
1,944 residents
2023
1,901 residents
2024
1,966 residents
2025
1,978 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Rapid Growth
Total Permits (2024)
17
housing units authorized
Single-Family
17
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
12.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
13
11
2
$1.3M
2020
12
12
0
$1.3M
2021
15
15
0
$1.6M
2022
17
17
0
$1.9M
2023
15
15
0
$1.6M
2024
17
17
0
$1.9M
Permit volume increased 31% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
77.7%
Carpool
17.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
4.8%
Based on 605 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 Stratford. 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 Stratford 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 Stratford sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Stratford 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.