Hockley County, TX

County Profile

21,363 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Hockley 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.

54out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 30% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity785th of 1,463 counties measured54
SchoolsTop 45% of 1,377 counties measured55
Growth1,197th of 1,453 counties measured32
Housing affordabilityTop 8% of 1,462 counties measured86
ClimateTop 48% of 1,463 counties measured69
Physical resilience1,277th of 1,463 counties measured26
AccessTop 48% of 1,463 counties measured82
Economic stability976th of 1,463 counties measured47
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.3% and median household income $63,140, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 47% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 11.9 students for every teacher.

6 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, essentially level with 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
21,363
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$63,140
Bottom 45% nationally
Density
24/sq mi
908.4 sq mi of land
Median age
35.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Hockley County
Texas
Metro area
Nearest major airport
LBB
30 mi · Lubbock Preston Smith Intl
Median home value
$127,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.3% — higher than in all but 42% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.6% over the past year, to 9,690 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$57,06846th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$54,09837th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,7432024 ACS 5-Year$63,140Bottom 45%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,6832024 ACS 5-Year$32,179Bottom 36%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$54,362Bottom 44%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.3%Top 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.2 minTop 39%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year18.9%Bottom 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year81.1%76th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 20269,690Bottom 10%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+3.5%Top 15%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.6%Top 27%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202610,12910th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.0%Top 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%77th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 20260.0%Bottom 40%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.3%Bottom 42%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.1%18th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.73.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.3% 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

202120222023202463k49k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $63,140 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 — Lubbock, TX

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers7,930$25,250
Office Clerks, General5,440$36,940
Registered Nurses5,070$81,480
Retail Salespersons4,580$28,480
General and Operations Managers4,460$80,870
Stockers and Order Fillers4,180$35,620

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.

47% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 45% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 11.9 students for every full-time teacher across 12 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
13
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.9
across 12 of them
Math proficiency
47.0%
Bottom 41% in Texas
Reading proficiency
45.4%
Top 46% in Texas
The 12 largest of 13 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Levelland H SLEVELLAND ISD79813.362%49%
Levelland MiddleLEVELLAND ISD73612.140%34%
Ropes SchoolROPES ISD62211.141%57%
Levelland Academic Beginnings CenterLEVELLAND ISD51816.7——
Smyer SchoolsSMYER ISD43110.527%37%
Capitol ElLEVELLAND ISD28513.027%32%
South ElLEVELLAND ISD23814.047%47%
Sundown ElSUNDOWN ISD2319.677%52%
Whitharral SchoolWHITHARRAL ISD22912.157%47%
Sundown H SSUNDOWN ISD1848.075%75%
Anton SchoolANTON ISD1759.78%22%
Sundown J HSUNDOWN ISD13411.277%62%

58.4% 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 9% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 91.0, 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 Lubbock, TX Metro Area is up 28% over five years, and up 2.3% 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 $1,760 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.39% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $973, some 14% above the $850 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $973 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $38,900 a year, about 62% of the median household income here of $63,140.

The typical renter household here spends 24% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $850 a month.

A median home at $127,000 costs 1.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $71,920, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
91.0

Prices here run about 9% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Lubbock, 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
24.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$973
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$850
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$127,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Hockley County’s median household income of $63,140, 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 Lubbock, TX Metro Area’s figure202391.0Top 26%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Lubbock, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+2.3%25th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Lubbock, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+28.2%8th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Lubbock, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+62.9%7th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year1.8Top 13%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year72.2%38th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±352024 ACS 5-Year9,23340th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$854Top 35%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,353Top 32%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$973Top 18%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$422024 ACS 5-Year$850Top 46%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,9582024 ACS 5-Year$127,00021st percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1162024 ACS 5-Year$1,76057th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,1092024 ACS 5-Year$71,920Bottom 39%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.16%2024 ACS 5-Year1.39%85th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year24.3%Top 21%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±362024 ACS 5-Year5210th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%14th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year13.7%78th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2542024 ACS 5-Year1,31840th 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

32/ 100
Ranks 1,197 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 21,505 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 6 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Hockley County gained about 0.5% 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 $57,068, above the $54,098 of households that moved out.

At 0.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
6
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.3
Bottom 5% nationally
Year over year
0%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202422k21k
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 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
12%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$57,068
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$54,098
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Lubbock County, TX 646 people · 50% of arrivals
  2. Cochran County, TX 52 people · 4.0% of arrivals
  3. Lamb County, TX 52 people · 4.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Lubbock County, TX 586 people · 49% of departures
  2. Terry County, TX 59 people · 4.9% of departures
  3. Lamb County, TX 40 people · 3.3% 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

2022202320242025127.0
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 92°F and January a low of 25°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 18.3 inches, including 6.2 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 LEVELLAND, 4.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND2.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals18.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals6.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals25°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals40°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

26 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hail, tornado and inland flooding, with hail alone responsible for 36% 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.

HailHigh
DroughtElevated
WildfireModerate
Winter weatherModerate
TornadoModerate
Strong windHigh
Cold waveElevated
LightningModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: ice storm, earthquake, hurricane, inland flooding, landslide, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche, coastal flooding.

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.

Hockley County has a modeled homicide rate of about 5.9 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 18.5 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 12.9 per 100,000 residents in Hockley County.

Homicide
5.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
18.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
12.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
18.8
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 Hockley 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.
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. 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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Lubbock Preston Smith Intl at 30 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year84.5%Bottom 33%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle30 miTop 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.0%Bottom 36%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Lubbock Preston Smith IntlLBB30 mi11,500 ft
Lea County RgnlHOB81 mi8,000 ft
Big Spring/Mc Mahon-WrinkleBPG107 mi8,803 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
54
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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
Housing, 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 Hockley County, TX