79606 — Abilene, Texas

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 79606. Its median home value runs 48% above Abilene as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

69out of 100
Area Score
Top 14% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 14% of 3,116 ZIP areas measured74
SchoolsTop 10% of 3,047 ZIP areas measured81
GrowthTop 1% of 3,124 ZIP areas measured88
Housing affordabilityTop 29% of 3,112 ZIP areas measured75
Climate1,942nd of 3,127 ZIP areas measured66
Physical resilience1,903rd of 3,127 ZIP areas measured48
Access3,049th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured46
Economic stabilityTop 37% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured62
The quick read

79606 ranks in the top 14% of ZIP areas measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.0% and median household income of $79,196. The unemployment rate is published for Abilene, TX, which contains 79606, rather than for 79606 alone.

Public schools test above most of the state: 67% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 10% of published profiles for schools.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 1,757 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 125% on the prior year. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Abilene, TX, which contains 79606, rather than for 79606 alone.

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
29,182
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$79,196
Top 39% nationally
Density
420/sq mi
69.5 sq mi of land
Median age
34.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Abilene
Texas
Metro area
Nearest major airport
SJT
80 mi · San Angelo Rgnl/Mathis Fld
Median home value
$272,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Abilene, TX, which contains 79606, is 4.0%, lower than in 64% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across Abilene, TX, which contains 79606, grew 1.2% over the past year, to 61,003 employed residents.

38% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 77% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsTaylor County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$55,80422nd percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftTaylor County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$55,31220th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$9,4762024 ACS 5-Year$79,196Top 39%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,7802024 ACS 5-Year$42,942Top 31%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year6.4%Top 28%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year18.5 minTop 9%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year37.8%Top 23%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year83.3%77th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentAbilene, TX’s figureJuly 202661,003Top 42%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Abilene, TX’s figureJuly 2026+4.4%Top 9%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Abilene, TX’s figureJuly 2026+1.2%Top 14%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forceAbilene, TX’s figureJuly 202663,54558th percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year82.9%Top 30%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageAbilene, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$54,360Bottom 7%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageAbilene, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$44,340Bottom 8%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Abilene, TX’s figureJuly 2026+0.1%Bottom 39%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment rateAbilene, TX’s figureJuly 20264.0%Top 36%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year8.7%45th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202483k70k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $79,196 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

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Abilene, TX, the city containing this ZIP code.

67% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 66% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.2 students for every full-time teacher across 7 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
66.7%
Top 10% in Texas
Reading proficiency
66.0%
Top 9% in Texas
All 7 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Wylie H SWYLIE ISD1,53715.876%77%
Wylie West J HWYLIE ISD1,03817.078%69%
Wylie West ElWYLIE ISD67316.067%62%
Bassetti ElABILENE ISD54615.236%48%
Ward ElABILENE ISD50215.745%54%
Wylie West IntWYLIE ISD46517.270%63%
Wylie West Early Childhood CenterWYLIE ISD19317.5——

29.9% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 10% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 90.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Abilene, TX Metro Area is up 46% over five years, and up 9.0% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $4,433 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.63% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,276, close to the $1,194 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,276 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $51,000 a year, about 64% of the median household income here of $79,196.

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 $1,194 a month.

A median home at $272,600 costs 2.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $115,292, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
90.4

Prices here run about 10% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Abilene, TX Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
29.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,276
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,194
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$272,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 79606’s median household income of $79,196, 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
Cost of living indexthe Abilene, TX Metro Area’s figure202390.4Top 12%of 2,7372023
Home price change (1 year)the Abilene, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+9.0%99th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Abilene, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+46.3%65th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Abilene, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+92.1%46th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.4Top 36%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year53.0%11th percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5402024 ACS 5-Year13,71090th percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,020Top 31%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,653Top 34%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,276Top 34%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$332024 ACS 5-Year$1,194Bottom 36%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$16,1792024 ACS 5-Year$272,60063rd percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$3632024 ACS 5-Year$4,43384th percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,4802024 ACS 5-Year$115,292Top 19%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.16%2024 ACS 5-Year1.63%87th percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year29.1%Bottom 45%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±902024 ACS 5-Year9875th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%45th percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year9.8%66th percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3052024 ACS 5-Year1,44393rd percentileof 33,7722024 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

88/ 100
Top 1% of 3,124 published ZIP profiles

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.

At 13.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Abilene, TX, which contains 79606, rather than for 79606 alone.

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

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
39%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$55,804
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$55,312
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Jones County, TX 422 people · 5.3% of arrivals
  2. Tarrant County, TX 363 people · 4.6% of arrivals
  3. Callahan County, TX 346 people · 4.4% of arrivals
  4. Dallas County, TX 214 people · 2.7% of arrivals
  5. Tom Green County, TX 185 people · 2.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Callahan County, TX 502 people · 6.3% of departures
  2. Jones County, TX 463 people · 5.8% of departures
  3. Tarrant County, TX 439 people · 5.5% of departures
  4. Bexar County, TX 232 people · 2.9% of departures
  5. Dallas County, TX 205 people · 2.6% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Taylor County, TX. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Abilene, TX, the city containing this ZIP code.

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, 8.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals25.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals3.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals96°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals39°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

48 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hail and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 43% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

HailHigh
WildfireModerate
DroughtModerate
Strong windModerate
Cold waveModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Homicide
10.9
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
23.8
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
16.3
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
19.7
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around 79606 (Taylor County) rather than 79606 itself. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

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. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. Abilene carries the figure where its 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.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
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. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest San Angelo Rgnl/Mathis Fld at 80 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year95.5%Top 17%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle80 miBottom 3%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 1%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year3.5%Top 23%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
San Angelo Rgnl/Mathis FldSJT80 mi8,054 ft
Big Spring/Mc Mahon-WrinkleBPG100 mi8,803 ft
Sheppard AFB/Wichita Falls MuniSPS136 mi13,100 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
69
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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)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
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
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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.

79606 vs Abilene

How this ZIP area compares with Abilene as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

79606
Abilene
Median household income: 79606 is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$79,196
vs
$62,648
Per capita income: 79606 is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$42,942
vs
$31,321
Population density
420/sq mi
vs
1,200/sq mi
Median home value
$272,600
vs
$183,700
Median gross rent: Abilene is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$1,194
vs
$1,157
Homeownership rate
53.0%
vs
56.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 79606 is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
37.8%
vs
27.3%
Poverty rate: 79606 is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
6.4%
vs
14.8%
Median age
34.3
vs
32.8

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.