Corpus Christi, Texas
Area Profile
317,419 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Corpus Christi, in Nueces County.
Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 23% of median household income.
Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, cold wave and drought.
Its Area Score of 56 places Corpus Christi in the top 75% of published city profiles.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 4.9% is lower than 30% of the 140 measured US cities.
Employment fell 0.9% over the past year, to 147,343 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$1,835 | $67,394 | Top 49% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$753 | $34,788 | Top 47% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 17.1% | Top 30% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 22.3 min | Bottom 27% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 24.4% | Top 41% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 147,343 | Bottom 49% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years) | 1.9% | Top 28% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year) | -0.9% | Top 46% | June 2026 |
| Labor force | 154,988 | Top 50% | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 61.9% | Top 45% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $57,670 | Bottom 5% | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $45,350 | Bottom 5% | 2025 OEWS |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | 0.7% | Top 22% | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.9% | Top 30% | June 2026 |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 7,870 | $25,630 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 6,630 | $23,440 |
| General and Operations Managers | 5,570 | $90,600 |
| Registered Nurses | 4,800 | $82,690 |
| Retail Salespersons | 4,790 | $29,200 |
| Cashiers | 3,650 | $28,140 |
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 $1,292 takes 23% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 3.1 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 3.12 | Top 45% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 57.9% | Bottom 18% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±517 | 136,279 | Top 1% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$27 | $1,292 | Top 28% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$4,036 | $210,400 | Top 44% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 23.0% | Top 25% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 12.9% | Top 40% | 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 →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.
New construction is predominantly single-family: only 6% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.
At 3.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.
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.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 35.2" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 52°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 92°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 27°F | 1991-2020 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
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, cold wave and drought.
Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, tornado, lightning, strong wind, inland flooding, hail, winter weather, ice storm, wildfire, coastal flooding, 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 78 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria Rgnl | VCT | 78 mi | 9,111 ft |
| Valley Intl | HRL | 110 mi | 9,400 ft |
| Laredo Intl | LRD | 141 mi | 8,743 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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Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | June 2026 | Monthly |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS | Annual (spring release) |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate | Annual (vintage released each spring) |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 | Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (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.