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-TOOL-TX · Tool, TX 2,399 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 Tool
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Tool on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Maxton · lowest
22,632
Maxton · lowest
22,632 median HH income
20.4% of the leader · rank #1
Raintree Plan… · near
71,953
Raintree Plan… · near
71,953 median HH income
64.9% of the leader · rank #2
Tool · this city
71,964
Tool · this city
71,964 median HH income
65.0% of the leader · rank #3
Valders · near
71,964
Valders · near
71,964 median HH income
65.0% of the leader · rank #4
Memphis · near
71,967
Memphis · near
71,967 median HH income
65.0% of the leader · rank #5
Courtland · near
71,972
Courtland · near
71,972 median HH income
65.0% of the leader · rank #6
Gunter · highest
110,795
Gunter · highest
110,795 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 Tool 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: 2,399.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Tool - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Tool lands in the 52nd percentile for household income and the 94th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
52nd
percentile, household income
31st
percentile, home value
40th
percentile, median rent
94th
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: Tool, TX
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 2,399 residents in Tool, a small town within Texas. Tool households earn a median of $71,964 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.2%. Home values in Tool run a median of $163,700, and the median resident age is 52.0 years. Educational attainment runs 28.3% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 56.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 36 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 350% from five years earlier. Tool reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 257.0 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score).
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. 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. Workers in Tool report an average commute of 39.0 minutes, with 71.5% driving alone and 12.2% working from home. 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 Tool'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 housing and income to population change to reported crime to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Tool, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
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 Tool?
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 Ben Bolt (2,391 residents, $70,500 income); Idalou (2,389 residents, $70,655 income); Gunter (2,382 residents, $110,795 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Flora, MS (2,399 residents); Red Lodge, MT (2,399 residents); Nanty-Glo, PA (2,399 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. 28.3% 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Tool?
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 2.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +249 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +11.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 36 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.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Tool?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 257.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 89% lower 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.
Total reported rate
257.0
Violent rate
85.7
Property rate
171.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 71.5%. The reported mean trip to work is 39.0 minutes.
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.
Drive alone
71.5%
Work from home
12.2%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,137 workers age 16+.
Above median income · poverty 7.2% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Texas average
C
City profile score · Tool, TX
57/100
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 B
86 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C
28.3%
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.
Household income C-
$71,964
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate C-
7.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Tool profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 74/100 (B) · 86 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 55/100 (C) · 28.3%
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Household income: 51/100 (C-) · $71,964
Poverty rate: 51/100 (C-) · 7.2%
Where Tool sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Tool'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 - Tool highlighted among 26 peers.Read the chart values
Tool, TX (this city): home $163,700, crime 257/100k
Red Lodge, MT : home $374,900, crime 585/100k
Maxton, NC : home $79,600, crime 1,229/100k
Idalou, TX : home $175,700, crime 1,106/100k
Gunter, TX : home $535,400, crime 499/100k
Premont, TX : home $80,700, crime 839/100k
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 Tool compare to other US cities?
Here's how Tool 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
Home value31% pricier than other cities
Median rent40% pricier than other cities
Safety94% 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: Tool ranks #39 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 Tool 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 Tool near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Tool ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Tool only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#556 of 1,520
63rd percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Median Home Value
#726 of 1,505
52nd percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#942 of 1,663
43rd percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#424 of 1,663
74th 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 · 94th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Tool's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Tool'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 Tool's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$163,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 69% 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
Tool's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,826 of 15,516
More affordable than 82% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,616 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.3×, Tool sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,826 of 15,516 and #2,616 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
$71,964Tool, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Tool, 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 Tool, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)28.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)56.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,399
Median Income
$71,964
Median Home Value
$163,700
Median Age
52.0
Poverty Rate
7.2%
Labor force participation
56.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
28.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
257.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
85.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
171.3
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.
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
Tool's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,178 residents
2021
2,211 residents
2022
2,243 residents
2023
2,302 residents
2024
2,367 residents
2025
2,427 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
36
housing units authorized
Single-Family
36
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
15
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
8
8
0
$4.6M
2020
12
12
0
$2.8M
2021
23
23
0
$5.0M
2022
38
38
0
$8.3M
2023
38
38
0
$11.5M
2024
36
36
0
$12.6M
Permit volume increased 350% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
39.0 minutes
Drive Alone
71.5%
Carpool
11.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
12.2%
Other
5.1%
Based on 1,137 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 Tool. 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 Tool 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 Tool sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Tool 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, 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.