Gillespie County, TX

County Profile

27,524 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Gillespie 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.

66out of 100
Area Score
Top 25% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 14% of 1,463 counties measured75
SchoolsTop 16% of 1,377 counties measured77
Growth930th of 1,453 counties measured42
Housing affordability1,396th of 1,462 counties measured45
ClimateTop 27% of 1,463 counties measured74
Physical resilienceTop 28% of 1,463 counties measured75
Access1,161st of 1,463 counties measured64
Economic stabilityTop 47% of 1,463 counties measured63
The quick read

Gillespie County ranks in the top 14% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.5% and median household income of $76,162.

Public schools test above most of the state: 52% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 16% of published profiles for schools.

Residential permitting has slowed: 46 units authorized over the past twelve months, 23% below the prior year.

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
27,524
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$76,162
Top 24% nationally
Density
26/sq mi
1,058.2 sq mi of land
Median age
50.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Gillespie County
Texas
Nearest major airport
SAT
62 mi · San Antonio Intl
Median home value
$460,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.5%, lower than in 74% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.4% over the past year, to 13,507 employed residents.

37% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 89% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$149,63599th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$94,86994th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$7,6062024 ACS 5-Year$76,162Top 24%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,7402024 ACS 5-Year$48,971Top 8%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$94,118Top 5%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.3%Top 22%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.5 minTop 28%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year37.2%Top 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.2%34th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202613,507Bottom 17%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.1%Top 26%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.4%Top 32%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202613,99917th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year75.6%Top 50%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%50th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Bottom 27%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.5%Top 26%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year11.4%72nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.72.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.5% 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

202120222023202476k64k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $76,162 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.

52% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 52% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.5 students for every full-time teacher across 10 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.5
across all schools here
Math proficiency
51.7%
Top 31% in Texas
Reading proficiency
51.8%
Top 11% in Texas
All 10 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Fredericksburg H SFREDERICKSBURG ISD1,03113.447%56%
Fredericksburg ElFREDERICKSBURG ISD76514.753%49%
Fredericksburg MiddleFREDERICKSBURG ISD62213.249%47%
Fredericksburg PriFREDERICKSBURG ISD48714.3——
Harper ElHARPER ISD22314.957%52%
Harper MiddleHARPER ISD19713.167%52%
Harper H SHARPER ISD1719.045%55%
Stonewall ElFREDERICKSBURG ISD10615.175%55%
Doss ElDOSS CONSOLIDATED CSD206.7——
Gillespie County H SFREDERICKSBURG ISD1919.0——

58.2% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Texas is up 44% over five years, and up 2.9% 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 $4,496 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.98% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,438, close to the $1,340 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,438 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $57,500 a year, about 75% of the median household income here of $76,162.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,340 a month.

A median home at $460,700 costs 5.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $87,838, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
31.8%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,438
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,340
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$460,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Gillespie County’s median household income of $76,162, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Texas’s figure2026 Q2+2.9%33rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Texas’s figure2026 Q2+43.8%43rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Texas’s figure2026 Q2+97.6%52nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.82024 ACS 5-Year5.2Bottom 3%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year74.9%52nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±402024 ACS 5-Year14,37354th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,096Bottom 35%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,806Bottom 30%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,438Bottom 27%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$602024 ACS 5-Year$1,340Bottom 12%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$29,3172024 ACS 5-Year$460,70095th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$4062024 ACS 5-Year$4,49695th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$11,4672024 ACS 5-Year$87,838Top 28%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.11%2024 ACS 5-Year0.98%63rd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year31.8%Bottom 16%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3772024 ACS 5-Year1,68082nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year11.7%84th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.2%43rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4362024 ACS 5-Year2,86065th percentileof 3,2222024 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.

Development Momentum

42/ 100
Ranks 930 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, in a series running from 2022 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 grown 5% since 2020, reaching 28,159 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 46 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Gillespie County gained about 1.3% 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 $149,635, above the $94,869 of households that moved out.

At 1.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
46
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.7
Bottom 31% nationally
Year over year
−23%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202428k27k
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 rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+1.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
21%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$149,635
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$94,869
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Kerr County, TX 259 people · 16% of arrivals
  2. Bexar County, TX 121 people · 7.3% of arrivals
  3. Travis County, TX 86 people · 5.2% of arrivals
  4. Harris County, TX 84 people · 5.1% of arrivals
  5. Kendall County, TX 59 people · 3.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Kerr County, TX 206 people · 15% of departures
  2. Bexar County, TX 128 people · 9.6% of departures
  3. Travis County, TX 66 people · 4.9% of departures
  4. Kendall County, TX 50 people · 3.7% of departures
  5. Harris County, TX 34 people · 2.5% 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. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420258851
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−42%).

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 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 30.6 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FREDERICKSBURG, 6.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals30.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals35°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

75 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and hail, with inland flooding alone responsible for 62% 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.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 72% of measured US counties.

WildfireElevated
HailElevated
DroughtHigh
TornadoModerate
Strong windModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, inland flooding, lightning, hurricane, cold wave, heat wave, landslide, ice storm, earthquake, coastal flooding, tsunami, avalanche, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Gillespie County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 16.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 11.0 per 100,000 residents in Gillespie County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
11.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
19.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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.

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 Gillespie County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read 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.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this 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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest San Antonio Intl at 62 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year89.1%Top 32%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle62 miBottom 19%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.5%Top 36%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
San Antonio IntlSAT62 mi8,505 ft
Kelly FldSKF69 mi11,550 ft
Austin-Bergstrom IntlAUS76 mi12,250 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
66
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
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
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
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
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.

Cities in Gillespie County, TX

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.