Killeen-Temple, TX

Metro Area Profile

494,360 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Killeen-Temple, TX metropolitan area.

67out of 100
Area Score
Top 37% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity285th of 379 published metros43
GrowthTop 15% of 821 published metros73
Housing affordability537th of 822 published metros89
ClimateTop 44% of 822 published metros68
Physical resilienceTop 21% of 822 published metros75
Access539th of 822 published metros68
Economic stabilityTop 37% of 822 published metros62
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published metro profiles: unemployment is 5.5% and the Opportunity signal places Killeen-Temple in the bottom 25%.

3,263 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 12% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published metro profiles, placing Killeen-Temple in the top 21% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
494,360
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$69,923
Top 41% nationally
Density
175/sq mi
2818.6 sq mi of land
Median age
32.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Killeen-Temple, TX
Nearest major airport
CNW
52 mi · Tstc Waco
Median home value
$234,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.5% is lower than 11% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment fell 1.0% over the past year, to 193,610 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,525$69,923Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$580$33,746Bottom 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate13.8%Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute25.9 minTop 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher25.6%Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment193,610Top 34%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)2.5%Top 20%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.0%Bottom 42%June 2026
Labor force204,924Top 33%June 2026
Labor force participation63.1%Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$62,390Top 39%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,660Bottom 37%2025 OEWS
Metro employment150,580Top 39%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.8%Top 11%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.5%Top 11%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.13.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.5% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Largest occupations — Killeen-Temple, TX
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers7,120$26,530
Registered Nurses5,340$93,440
Stockers and Order Fillers3,970$36,560
Retail Salespersons3,870$29,970
General and Operations Managers3,650$87,920
Cashiers3,250$28,610

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,217 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.4 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
20.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,217
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$234,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.35Top 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate57.9%Bottom 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±315194,401Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$18$1,217Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,775$234,500Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.9%Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate8.6%Bottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
73/ 100
Top 15% of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2024 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 7% since 2020, reaching 509,487 in 2024.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 10% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 6.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
3,263
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.6
Top 16% nationally
Year over year
−12%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
10.2%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024509k477k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 96°F and January a low of 36°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 34.8 inches.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station KILLEEN, 11.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation34.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low36°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high96°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing37°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

75 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are cold wave, hail and wildfire.

HailElevated
Cold waveModerate
WildfireModerate
HurricaneModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, lightning, winter weather, heat wave, inland flooding, strong wind, ice storm, drought, landslide, earthquake.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 52 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Tstc WacoCNW52 mi8,600 ft
Austin-Bergstrom IntlAUS70 mi12,250 ft
San Antonio IntlSAT122 mi8,505 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.