AreaProfile

79109Amarillo, Texas

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 79109.

68
Area Score
Top 30% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 33% of 4,073 published ZIP areas63
GrowthTop 17% of 3,947 published ZIP areas68
Housing affordabilityTop 10% of 4,553 published ZIP areas98
Climate2586th of 4,621 published ZIP areas68
Physical resilience3040th of 4,554 published ZIP areas42
Access3125th of 4,623 published ZIP areas90
Economic stability2798th of 4,591 published ZIP areas54
The quick read

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 17% of median household income.

A major airport is 11 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

Its Area Score of 68 places 79109 in the top 30% of published ZIP profiles.

At a glance

Population
43,578
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$70,435
Bottom 48% nationally
Density
4,226/sq mi
10.3 sq mi of land
Median age
38.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Amarillo
Texas
Metro area
Amarillo, TX
Nearest major airport
AMA
11 mi · Rick Husband Amarillo Intl
Median home value
$222,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.1% is lower than 69% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

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

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,824$70,435Bottom 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,718$42,917Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate13.1%Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute19.7 minBottom 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher32.3%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment101,351Top 26%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)3.9%Top 10%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.2%Bottom 44%June 2026
Labor force105,632Top 26%June 2026
Labor force participation66.2%Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$56,400Bottom 8%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$44,580Bottom 6%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)1.0%Top 6%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.1%Bottom 31%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202470k62k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $70,435 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.

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

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $986 takes 17% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.2 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
16.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$986
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$222,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.16Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate57.8%Bottom 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±62420,582Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$48$986Bottom 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,850$222,900Top 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income16.8%Bottom 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate9.8%Bottom 45%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
68/ 100
Top 17% of 3,947 published city 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 5.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
1,196
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.9
Top 26% nationally
Year over year
+2%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
40.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings

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

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, 11.0 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

42 / 100
Physical resilience

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

Winter weatherModerate
HailHigh
DroughtElevated
TornadoModerate
Strong windElevated
WildfireElevated
Cold waveModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, earthquake, inland flooding, ice storm, landslide.

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.

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 11 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rick Husband Amarillo IntlAMA11 mi13,502 ft
Lubbock Preston Smith IntlLBB104 mi11,500 ft
Infinity One Oklahoma SpaceportCSM152 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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Area Score
68
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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.

79109 vs Amarillo

How this ZIP area compares with Amarillo as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

79109
Amarillo
Median household income
$70,435
vs
$65,912
Per capita income
$42,917
vs
$37,126
Population density
4,226/sq mi
vs
1,948/sq mi
Median home value
$222,900
vs
$196,900
Median gross rent
$986
vs
$1,092
Homeownership rate
57.8%
vs
59.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher
32.3%
vs
26.6%
Poverty rate
13.1%
vs
15.8%
Median age
38.5
vs
35.1

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.