Corpus Christi, Texas

Area Profile

317,419 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Corpus Christi, in Nueces County.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 40% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity2,483rd of 4,199 cities measured52
SchoolsTop 41% of 4,162 cities measured57
GrowthTop 40% of 4,224 cities measured55
Housing affordabilityTop 39% of 4,218 cities measured70
ClimateTop 26% of 4,225 cities measured76
Physical resilience2,829th of 4,226 cities measured42
Access4,099th of 4,226 cities measured47
Economic stability3,510th of 4,226 cities measured37
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.8% and median household income $67,394, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.

In the public schools here, 53% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.7 students for every teacher.

1,189 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 12% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

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
317,419
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$67,394
Top 49% nationally
Density
1,907/sq mi
166.4 sq mi of land
Median age
36.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Texas
Nearest major airport
VCT
78 mi · Victoria Rgnl
Median home value
$210,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% — higher than in all but 32% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.4% over the past year, to 147,845 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsNueces County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$64,46235th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftNueces County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$65,09035th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,8352024 ACS 5-Year$67,394Top 49%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$7532024 ACS 5-Year$34,788Top 47%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year16.6%Bottom 30%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.5 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.3 minTop 27%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year24.4%Top 41%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year80.3%61st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026147,845Top 37%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.0%Top 20%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.4%Top 44%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026155,28463rd percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year76.8%Bottom 45%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageCorpus Christi, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$57,670Bottom 9%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageCorpus Christi, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$45,350Bottom 7%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year1.2%86th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.4%Bottom 24%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.8%Bottom 32%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year5.3%38th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.93.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.8% in July 2026. It has been falling, 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.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202467k60k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $67,394 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 — Corpus Christi, TX

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers7,870$25,630
Home Health and Personal Care Aides6,630$23,440
General and Operations Managers5,570$90,600
Registered Nurses4,800$82,690
Retail Salespersons4,790$29,200
Cashiers3,650$28,140

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.

53% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 46% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.7 students for every full-time teacher across 90 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
93
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.7
across 90 of them
Math proficiency
53.2%
Top 38% in Texas
Reading proficiency
46.2%
Top 46% in Texas
The 12 largest of 93 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Sst Corpus Christi · charterSCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DISCOVERY2,34314.952%47%
Veterans Memorial H SCORPUS CHRISTI ISD2,02618.669%61%
Flour Bluff H SFLOUR BLUFF ISD1,94014.854%56%
Carroll H SCORPUS CHRISTI ISD1,92817.558%27%
Ray H SCORPUS CHRISTI ISD1,57816.352%41%
Roy Miller H S and Metro School of DesignCORPUS CHRISTI ISD1,42416.462%36%
Moody H SCORPUS CHRISTI ISD1,32617.262%34%
King H SCORPUS CHRISTI ISD1,27915.462%45%
Kaffie MiddleCORPUS CHRISTI ISD1,15420.260%51%
Calallen H SCALALLEN ISD1,14712.671%51%
Tuloso-Midway H STULOSO-MIDWAY ISD1,07912.849%53%
Baker MiddleCORPUS CHRISTI ISD93716.457%51%

65.7% 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 8% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 91.7, 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 Corpus Christi, TX Metro Area is up 28% over five years, and up 1.4% 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 $3,387 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.61% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,366, close to the $1,292 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,366 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $54,600 a year, about 81% of the median household income here of $67,394.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,292 a month.

A median home at $210,400 costs 2.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $86,053, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
91.7

Prices here run about 8% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Corpus Christi, 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
31.1%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,366
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,292
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$210,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Corpus Christi’s median household income of $67,394, 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 Corpus Christi, TX Metro Area’s figure202391.7Top 12%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Corpus Christi, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+1.4%29th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Corpus Christi, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+28.2%13th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Corpus Christi, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+61.3%8th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.4Top 49%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year57.9%17th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5172024 ACS 5-Year136,27999th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,117Top 31%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,796Top 34%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,366Top 33%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$272024 ACS 5-Year$1,292Bottom 28%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,0362024 ACS 5-Year$210,40056th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1172024 ACS 5-Year$3,38777th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,0142024 ACS 5-Year$86,053Top 41%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year1.61%83rd percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year31.1%Bottom 36%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±4942024 ACS 5-Year3,32299th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.4%72nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year10.4%65th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1,1432024 ACS 5-Year17,53899th percentileof 32,3302024 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

55/ 100
Top 40% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 317,317 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 1,384 units authorized in 2025, up 33% on the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 1,189 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 6% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Nueces County, which contains Corpus Christi, lost about 0.4% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $64,462, close to the $65,090 of households that moved out.

At 3.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
1,189
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.7
Top 38% nationally
Year over year
−12%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
6.2%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024318k316k
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 holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
34%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$64,462
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$65,090
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. San Patricio County, TX 1,293 people · 9.8% of arrivals
  2. Bexar County, TX 1,014 people · 7.7% of arrivals
  3. Harris County, TX 630 people · 4.8% of arrivals
  4. Kleberg County, TX 466 people · 3.5% of arrivals
  5. Jim Wells County, TX 430 people · 3.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Bexar County, TX 1,475 people · 10% of departures
  2. San Patricio County, TX 1,215 people · 8.5% of departures
  3. Harris County, TX 848 people · 5.9% of departures
  4. Jim Wells County, TX 468 people · 3.3% of departures
  5. Kleberg County, TX 424 people · 3.0% 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 Nueces County, TX. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420251k1k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+16%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 52°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 35.2 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 51, in the Moderate band, and about 16 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CORPUS CHRISTI NAS, 8.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year812024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals35.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals52°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year162024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year512024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals27°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
51
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
81
90th percentile index
Days above 100
16
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

42 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and cold wave, with hurricane alone responsible for 45% 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.

Cold waveModerate
HurricaneElevated
DroughtModerate

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

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.

Violent crime
799
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
2,786
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Corpus Christi's police department reported 799 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,786.

Nueces County records 4.5 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 16.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 18.5 per 100,000 residents in Nueces County.

Homicide
4.5
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
18.5
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
19.9
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Corpus Christi’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 Corpus Christi (Nueces County) rather than Corpus Christi itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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 Victoria Rgnl at 78 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year89.6%Bottom 49%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle78 miBottom 4%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year7.8%Bottom 48%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Victoria RgnlVCT78 mi9,111 ft
Valley IntlHRL110 mi9,400 ft
Laredo IntlLRD141 mi8,743 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
56
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Other cities in Corpus Christi, TX

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
PortlandSan Patricio County20,54356Portland vs Corpus Christi
RockportAransas County10,68358Rockport vs Corpus Christi
RobstownNueces County10,23644Robstown vs Corpus Christi

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Corpus Christi side by side with a similar place.

Corpus Christi vs MissionCorpus Christi vs Chattanooga

Moving to Corpus Christi from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
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
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
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
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.

ZIP codes in Corpus Christi

19 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Corpus Christi with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Corpus Christi closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
7841454,263$98,771$292,60062
7841543,080$54,990$152,00050
7841238,631$61,215$197,500—
7841334,289$72,815$244,200—
7841829,790$92,445$302,50058
7841029,040$79,308$235,200—
7841123,682$57,742$184,700—
7840514,602$38,294$80,300—
7840412,635$61,280$189,000—
7841612,480$43,198$94,600—
7840810,111$41,045$88,400—
784174,703$53,750$155,200—
784014,344$40,841$77,500—
783733,348$91,106$599,400—
784092,937$60,089$172,600—
784062,301$54,740——
784071,674$47,688$98,800—
78419693$66,182——
78402554$55,565$193,000—