AreaProfile

Abilene, Texas

Area Profile

128,053 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Abilene, in Taylor County.

66
Area Score
Top 37% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 23% of 1,567 published cities70
GrowthTop 1% of 1,503 published cities87
Housing affordabilityTop 24% of 1,876 published cities90
Climate1164th of 1,876 published cities66
Physical resilience1091st of 1,849 published cities48
Access1848th of 1,876 published cities41
Economic stability1548th of 1,876 published cities43
The quick read

Abilene ranks in the top 23% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.1% and median household income of $62,648.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 1,757 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 125% on the prior year.

Its Area Score of 66 places Abilene in the top 37% of published city profiles.

At a glance

Population
128,053
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$62,648
Bottom 44% nationally
Density
1,200/sq mi
106.7 sq mi of land
Median age
32.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Taylor County
Texas
Metro area
Abilene, TX
Nearest major airport
SJT
88 mi · San Angelo Rgnl/Mathis Fld
Median home value
$183,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.1% is lower than 64% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment grew 1.3% over the past year, to 60,759 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,072$62,648Bottom 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,130$31,321Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate16.1%Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute16.9 minBottom 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher27.3%Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment60,759Top 15%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)4.9%Top 7%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)1.3%Top 8%June 2026
Labor force63,370Top 15%June 2026
Labor force participation61.5%Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$54,360Bottom 4%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$44,340Bottom 4%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.5%Top 32%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.1%Bottom 36%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/065.23.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.1% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202463k54k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $62,648 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Abilene, TX
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,930$26,310
Customer Service Representatives2,550$36,830
General and Operations Managers2,120$86,200
Retail Salespersons2,000$29,530
Home Health and Personal Care Aides1,820$23,690
Cashiers1,780$27,130

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 $1,157 takes 22% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.9 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
22.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,157
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$183,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.93Top 50%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate56.1%Bottom 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±49553,156Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$25$1,157Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,361$183,700Bottom 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.2%Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate11.7%Top 44%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
87/ 100
Top 1% of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2020 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 4% since 2020, reaching 130,501 in 2024.

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

At 13.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
1,757
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
13.7
Top 6% nationally
Year over year
+125%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
30.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024131k125k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
202020222023202420251k433
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+60%).

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 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 25.2 inches, including 3.7 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ABILENE RGNL AP, 4.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation25.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall3.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high96°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing39°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

48 / 100
Physical resilience

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

HailHigh
WildfireModerate
DroughtModerate
Strong windModerate
Cold waveModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 88 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
San Angelo Rgnl/Mathis FldSJT88 mi8,054 ft
Big Spring/Mc Mahon-WrinkleBPG105 mi8,803 ft
Perot Fld/Fort Worth AllianceAFW145 mi11,125 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
66
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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 29, 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.

ZIP codes in Abilene

6 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
7960629,182$79,19671
7960528,467$62,92967
7960128,050$53,63162
7960227,425$89,55171
7960323,548$53,51365
796073,315$62,63763