Sweetwater, TX

Micro Area Profile

14,454 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Sweetwater, TX micropolitan area.

47out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 16% of 834 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 9 sources
Opportunity685th of 835 metro and micro areas measured34
Schools438th of 695 metro and micro areas measured41
Growth747th of 834 metro and micro areas measured24
Housing affordabilityTop 38% of 835 metro and micro areas measured76
Climate442nd of 835 metro and micro areas measured65
Physical resilience425th of 835 metro and micro areas measured54
Access671st of 835 metro and micro areas measured60
Economic stability768th of 835 metro and micro areas measured14
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable metro and micro areas measured: unemployment is 4.7% and the Opportunity signal places Sweetwater in the bottom 18%.

In the public schools here, 44% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.2 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 12 units authorized over the past twelve months, against 15 the year before.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
14,454
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$50,747
Bottom 7% nationally
Density
16/sq mi
912 sq mi of land
Median age
39.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
Area type
Micropolitan area
Texas
Nearest major airport
BPG
65 mi · Big Spring/Mc Mahon-Wrinkle
Median home value
$96,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.7% — higher than in all but 31% of the 835 measured US metro and micro areas.

Employment fell 0.4% over the past year, to 6,000 employed residents.

Median household income of $50,747 is lower than in 93% of measured US metro and micro areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$3,5462024 ACS 5-Year$50,747Bottom 7%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,3752024 ACS 5-Year$32,182Bottom 27%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year21.4%Bottom 7%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year18.9 minTop 8%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year16.0%Bottom 7%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year81.0%81st percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 20266,000Bottom 1%of 835July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.7%Top 26%of 835July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.4%Top 43%of 835July 2026
Labor forceJuly 20266,2951st percentileof 835July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year73.4%Bottom 30%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.8%Bottom 7%of 835July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.7%Bottom 31%of 835July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year3.6%3rd percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.53.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.7% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. 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.

44% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 40% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.2 students for every full-time teacher across 11 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
11
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
44.4%
Bottom 28% in Texas
Reading proficiency
40.4%
Bottom 28% in Texas
All 11 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Sweetwater H SSWEETWATER ISD55312.627%33%
Sweetwater MiddleSWEETWATER ISD37213.333%31%
Sweetwater IntSWEETWATER ISD35313.650%38%
Roscoe Collegiate H S · charterROSCOE COLLEGIATE ISD30710.247%47%
Highland SchoolHIGHLAND ISD2079.477%72%
East Ridge ElSWEETWATER ISD20512.147%37%
Blackwell SchoolBLACKWELL CISD1868.957%52%
Roscoe El · charterROSCOE COLLEGIATE ISD17910.552%32%
Southeast Early Childhood CenterSWEETWATER ISD16627.7——
Southeast ElSWEETWATER ISD15713.1——
Roscoe Collegiate Montessori Early Childhood · charterROSCOE COLLEGIATE ISD8421.0——

60.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Texas’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,475 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.53% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $995, some 9% above the $913 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $995 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $39,800 a year, about 78% of the median household income here of $50,747.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $913 a month.

A median home at $96,300 costs 1.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $59,271, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
28.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$995
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$913
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$96,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Sweetwater’s median household income of $50,747, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year1.6Top 3%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year68.1%39th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±402024 ACS 5-Year7,1041st percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$810Top 32%of 818FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,384Top 43%of 818FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$995Top 30%of 818FY2026
Median gross rent ±$802024 ACS 5-Year$913Top 37%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,5212024 ACS 5-Year$96,3001st percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1652024 ACS 5-Year$1,47534th percentileof 9332024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,6332024 ACS 5-Year$59,271Bottom 5%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.23%2024 ACS 5-Year1.53%89th percentileof 9322024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year28.5%Top 43%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±532024 ACS 5-Year724th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.0%28th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year16.1%96th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2152024 ACS 5-Year1,2187th percentileof 9352024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

24/ 100
Ranks 747 of 834 published metro profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running 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 fallen 4% since 2020, to 14,182 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 12 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US metro and micro areas.

Units permitted
12
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.8
Bottom 15% nationally
Year over year
−20%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202415k14k
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. It has been falling for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 95°F and January a low of 29°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 23.9 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BRONTE 11 NNE, 21.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals23.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals29°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals95°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals38°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

54 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and drought, with inland flooding alone responsible for 29% of it. inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

DroughtHigh
WildfireElevated
HailElevated
Strong windModerate
TornadoModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, cold wave, inland flooding, hurricane, lightning, ice storm, earthquake, landslide, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

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

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Death-certificate rates
The CDC publishes these rates by county, so a metropolitan area carries none of its own. The county profiles inside it do.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index by county, and only where a monitor sits, so a metropolitan area carries none of its own. The county profiles inside it show it where one exists.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Big Spring/Mc Mahon-Wrinkle at 65 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year82.9%Bottom 10%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle65 miBottom 21%of 835NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 16%of 835NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year15.0%Bottom 7%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Big Spring/Mc Mahon-WrinkleBPG65 mi8,803 ft
San Angelo Rgnl/Mathis FldSJT66 mi8,054 ft
Midland Intl Air and Space PortMAF107 mi9,501 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
47
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated September 26, 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 every source with how often each updates.

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