Bowie County, TX

County Profile

92,115 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Bowie County, TX.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

62out of 100
Area Score
Top 48% of 1,225 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1023rd of 1,255 counties measured38
SchoolsTop 17% of 973 counties measured77
GrowthTop 30% of 1,226 counties measured61
Housing affordabilityTop 40% of 1,255 counties measured96
ClimateTop 35% of 1,254 counties measured72
Physical resilience669th of 1,255 counties measured59
Access1081st of 1,255 counties measured57
Economic stability1015th of 1,255 counties measured39
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published profiles: unemployment is 4.9% and the Opportunity signal places Bowie County in the bottom 19%.

Rent takes 20% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.9 times that income.

A typical July reaches 93°F and a typical January falls to 35°F, on thirty-year normals.

At a glance

Population
92,115
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$59,803
Bottom 35% nationally
Density
104/sq mi
884.9 sq mi of land
Median age
38.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Bowie County
Texas
Metro area
Texarkana, TX-AR
Nearest major airport
GGG
75 mi · East Texas Rgnl
Median home value
$173,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.9% is lower than 25% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment fell 1.2% over the past year, to 37,784 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$2,992$59,803Bottom 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,321$31,241Bottom 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate16.2%Top 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute19.8 minBottom 14%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher23.6%Top 44%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Employment37,784Bottom 47%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.4%Top 48%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.2%Bottom 36%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force39,717Bottom 47%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force participation55.1%Bottom 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.7%Top 18%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate4.9%Top 25%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.53.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.9% in June 2026. 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
202120222023202460k55k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $59,803 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 — Texarkana, TX-AR
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,170$22,880
Registered Nurses1,760$80,610
Retail Salespersons1,650$28,700
General and Operations Managers1,630$77,060
Cashiers1,410$26,850
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers1,190$49,050

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.

46% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 45% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.1 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
44
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
46.4%
Top 29% in Texas
Reading proficiency
45.3%
Top 24% in Texas
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
TEXAS H STEXARKANA ISD1,75011.1
TEXAS MIDDLETEXARKANA ISD1,42113.246%50%
PLEASANT GROVE H SPLEASANT GROVE ISD82112.8
NASH ELTEXARKANA ISD66715.542%42%
LIBERTY-EYLAU MIDDLELIBERTY-EYLAU ISD59413.825%27%
CRESTVIEW ELNEW BOSTON ISD54410.932%30%
LIBERTY-EYLAU H SLIBERTY-EYLAU ISD5438.5
WAKE VILLAGE ELTEXARKANA ISD53912.841%41%
PLEASANT GROVE MIDDLEPLEASANT GROVE ISD53713.157%62%
LIBERTY-EYLAU ELLIBERTY-EYLAU ISD53113.319%17%
PLEASANT GROVE INTPLEASANT GROVE ISD51416.175%67%
MARGARET FISCHER DAVIS ELPLEASANT GROVE ISD49414.5

68.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Texas’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $988 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.9 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
19.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$988
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$173,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income2.89Bottom 47%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate63.4%Bottom 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±7839,948Top 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$24$988Top 32%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,399$173,000Bottom 46%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income19.8%Top 22%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate12.2%Bottom 40%of 3,2222024 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
61/ 100
Top 30% of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2022 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 fallen 1% since 2020, reaching 91,992 in 2024.

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

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 4% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 3.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
304
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.3
Top 45% nationally
Year over year
+104%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
3.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202493k92k
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
2022202320242025210105
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+100%).

Weather & climate

6 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 35°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 48.9 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 49, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station TEXARKANA WEBB FLD, 23.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index62.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation48.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low35°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10002024 calendar year
Median air quality index49.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing38°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
49
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
62
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

59 / 100
Physical resilience

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

HailHigh
Ice stormHigh
TornadoModerate
LightningModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Winter weatherModerate
DroughtModerate
Strong windModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, wildfire, inland flooding, cold wave, hurricane, landslide.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Bowie County records 5.4 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 19.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 16.4 per 100,000 residents in Bowie County.

Homicide
5.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
19.6
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
16.4
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
31.6
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Bowie County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Bowie County rather than Bowie County itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 75 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
East Texas RgnlGGG75 mi10,000 ft
Shreveport RgnlSHV77 mi8,348 ft
Tyler Pounds RgnlTYR95 mi8,334 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
62
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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
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)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 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.

Cities in Bowie County, TX