AreaProfile

Amarillo, Texas

Area Profile

201,885 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Amarillo, in Potter County.

66
Area Score
Top 30% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 30% of 139 published cities64
GrowthTop 20% of 134 published cities65
Housing affordabilityTop 2% of 150 published cities96
Climate85th of 149 published cities68
Physical resilience109th of 150 published cities37
Access119th of 149 published cities90
Economic stability99th of 150 published cities50
The quick read

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 20% of median household income.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hail, tornado and cold wave.

A major airport is 7 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
201,885
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$65,912
Bottom 48% nationally
Density
1,948/sq mi
103.6 sq mi of land
Median age
35.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Potter County
Texas
Metro area
Amarillo, TX
Nearest major airport
AMA
7 mi · Rick Husband Amarillo Intl
Median home value
$196,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.1% is lower than 75% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.2% over the past year, to 101,351 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,473$65,912Bottom 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,534$37,126Top 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate15.8%Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute21.1 minBottom 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher26.6%Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment101,351Bottom 17%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)3.9%Top 9%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.2%Bottom 45%June 2026
Labor force105,632Bottom 17%June 2026
Labor force participation66.0%Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$56,400Bottom 5%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$44,580Bottom 3%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)1.0%Top 4%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.1%Bottom 25%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/064.42.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.1% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202466k55k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $65,912 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 — Amarillo, TX
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers4,820$26,880
General and Operations Managers3,610$85,770
Retail Salespersons3,150$29,310
Cashiers3,040$27,750
Registered Nurses3,030$86,850
Stockers and Order Fillers2,870$35,350

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 $1,092 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.0 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
19.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,092
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$196,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.99Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate59.7%Bottom 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±61789,188Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$22$1,092Top 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,641$196,900Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income19.9%Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate10.6%Top 48%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
65/ 100
Top 20% of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, 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 2% since 2020, reaching 203,729 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

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

At 6.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
1,196
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.0
Top 32% nationally
Year over year
+2%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
40.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024204k201k
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
202020222023202420251k564
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was close to 2020 (+2%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 93°F and January a low of 25°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 19.7 inches, including 17.2 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station AMARILLO, 7.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation19.7"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall17.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low25°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing41°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

37 / 100
Physical resilience

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

Winter weatherModerate
HailHigh
TornadoModerate
Strong windModerate
DroughtElevated
WildfireElevated
Cold waveModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: earthquake, ice storm, heat wave, inland flooding, 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 7 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rick Husband Amarillo IntlAMA7 mi13,502 ft
Lubbock Preston Smith IntlLBB106 mi11,500 ft
Infinity One Oklahoma SpaceportCSM149 mi13,503 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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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 Amarillo

5 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
7910943,578$70,43568
7910736,662$40,67157
7911828,107$87,81070
7910626,161$59,49364
7911924,907$114,43272