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Place dossier plate
SheetTX-WEST-UNIVERSITY-PLACE-TX · West University Place, TX 14,907 pop · income 99th 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 West University Place
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest West University Place on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Yauco zona ur… · lowest
22,777
Yauco zona ur… · lowest
22,777 median HH income
9.1% of the leader · rank #1
West Universi… · this city
250,001
West Universi… · this city
250,001 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #2
Castle Hill · highest
250,001
Castle Hill · highest
250,001 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #3
Alamo · near
250,001
Alamo · near
250,001 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #4
Atherton · near
250,001
Atherton · near
250,001 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #5
Bell Canyon · near
250,001
Bell Canyon · near
250,001 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
Belvedere · near
250,001
Belvedere · near
250,001 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 West University Place 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: 14,907.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
West University Place - the verdict
Nationally, West University Place sits in the 99th percentile for household income and the 62nd percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
99th
percentile, household income
99th
percentile, home value
40th
percentile, median rent
62nd
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: West University Place, TX
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 14,907 residents in West University Place, a small town within Texas. West University Place sits on the ACS median-income top-code of $250,000+, a bound shared with other high-income places rather than a precise dollar amount, with a poverty rate of 2.4%. Typical homes in West University Place are valued around $1,406,600, and the median resident age is 41.3 years. About 90.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 57.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 35 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 44% from five years earlier. West University Place reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 1046.2 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Texas tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 97.1 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. 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. 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 West University Place'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 housing and income to reported crime to population change to comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For West University Place, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in West University Place?
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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What can the FBI record say about safety in West University Place?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1046.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 54% 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.
Is West University Place growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +136 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.9% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 35 housing units authorized in 2024. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for West University Place?
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 Hereford (14,874 residents, $51,799 income); Lockhart (14,708 residents, $67,252 income); Mineral Wells (15,130 residents, $54,210 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Yauco zona urbana, PR (14,903 residents); Glenn Dale, MD (14,896 residents); Fairview, NJ (14,920 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.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in West University Place?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 65.9%. 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. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Drive alone
65.9%
Work from home
22.4%
Public transit
0.2%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 6,285 workers age 16+.
Note: Census ACS censors the tails of median household income ($250,000+ / under $2,500) and median home value ($2,000,000+ / under $10,000).
West University Place's income is shown as $250,000+ - a bound shared with other high-income places, not an exact annual figure.
A-
City profile score · West University Place, TX
84/100
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.
Household income A+
$250,000+
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share A+
90.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate A-
2.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime A-
54 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger 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.
West University Place profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 100/100 (A+) · $250,000+
Bachelor's+ share: 100/100 (A+) · 90.5%
Poverty rate: 83/100 (A-) · 2.4%
Violent crime: 83/100 (A-) · 54 /100k
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Where West University Place sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
West University Place'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 - West University Place highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
West University Place, TX (this city): home $1,406,600, crime 1,046/100k
Fairview, NJ : home $512,100, crime 1,103/100k
Henderson, NC : home $116,800, crime 7,593/100k
Boulder City, NV : home $424,200, crime 899/100k
Waunakee, WI : home $490,300, crime 315/100k
Hereford, TX : home $109,100, crime 1,123/100k
Lockhart, TX : home $218,400, crime 1,706/100k
Mineral Wells, TX : home $146,100, crime 3,019/100k
Rio Grande City, TX : home $113,400, crime 1,926/100k
Uvalde, TX : home $131,600, crime 2,231/100k
Canyon, TX : home $218,300, crime 729/100k
How does West University Place compare to other US cities?
West University Place measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income99% higher than other cities
Home value99% pricier than other cities
Median rent40% pricier than other cities
Safety62% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Texas, West University Place ranks #242 of 624 Texas cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares West University Place 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 West University Place near the bottom of Texas's cities
Among the 1,663 Texas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, West University Place ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares West University Place only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1 of 1,520
99th percentile in Texas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,663
0th percentile in Texas
Median Home Value
#13 of 1,505
99th percentile in Texas
Poverty Rate
#1,321 of 1,663
20th percentile in Texas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#5 of 1,663
100th 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
99th percentile nationally for median household income · 62nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
West University Place's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
West University Place'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 West University Place's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$1,406,6001st percentilemore affordable than 1% 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
West University Place's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,731 of 15,516
More affordable than 12% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,860 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 5.6×, West University Place sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,731 of 15,516 and #2,860 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
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
$250,000+West University Place, TX median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context West University Place, 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 West University Place, TX.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)90.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
14,907
Median Income
$250,000+
Median Home Value
$1,406,600
Median Age
41.3
Poverty Rate
2.4%
Labor force participation
57.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
90.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1046.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
54.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
991.8
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.
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
West University Place's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
15,022 residents
2021
14,842 residents
2022
14,916 residents
2023
15,019 residents
2024
15,158 residents
2025
15,158 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
35
housing units authorized
Single-Family
35
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.3
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
62
62
0
$51.3M
2020
45
45
0
$37.8M
2021
48
48
0
$40.6M
2022
55
55
0
$59.4M
2023
37
37
0
$40.4M
2024
35
35
0
$31.7M
Permit volume decreased 44% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
65.9%
Carpool
7.4%
Public Transit
0.2%
Walk
1.4%
Work from Home
22.4%
Other
2.7%
Based on 6,285 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 West University Place. 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 West University Place 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 West University Place sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How West University Place 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, 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.