Jefferson County, TX

County Profile

253,878 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Jefferson 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.

47out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 6% of 1,225 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1029th of 1,255 counties measured38
Schools873rd of 973 counties measured18
Growth1089th of 1,226 counties measured28
Housing affordability723rd of 1,255 counties measured90
ClimateTop 19% of 1,254 counties measured76
Physical resilience950th of 1,255 counties measured39
Access993rd of 1,255 counties measured64
Economic stability1098th of 1,255 counties measured34
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published profiles: unemployment is 6.6% and the Opportunity signal places Jefferson County in the bottom 18%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 280 units authorized over the past twelve months, 28% below the prior year.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, coastal flooding and wildfire.

At a glance

Population
253,878
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$60,026
Bottom 35% nationally
Density
290/sq mi
876.7 sq mi of land
Median age
37.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Jefferson County
Texas
Metro area
Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX
Nearest major airport
EFD
63 mi · Ellington
Median home value
$169,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.6% is lower than 3% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment fell 0.6% over the past year, to 107,900 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$1,694$60,026Bottom 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$741$32,101Bottom 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income$50,458Bottom 24%of 1,2062023
Poverty rate19.5%Top 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.0 minBottom 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher19.7%Bottom 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Employment107,900Top 24%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (3 years)5.4%Top 7%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.6%Top 49%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force115,523Top 24%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force participation56.3%Bottom 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.9%Top 9%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate6.6%Top 3%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/06115.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.6% 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
202120222023202460k54k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $60,026 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 — Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers5,050$26,630
General and Operations Managers4,560$97,470
Retail Salespersons3,840$29,810
Home Health and Personal Care Aides3,390$23,510
Construction Laborers3,340$44,240
Cashiers3,140$28,730

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.

27% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 31% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.2 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
79
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
27.0%
Bottom 12% in Texas
Reading proficiency
31.2%
Bottom 8% in Texas
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
WEST BROOK SR H SBEAUMONT ISD2,21316.8
MEMORIAL H SPORT ARTHUR ISD2,14013.0
BEAUMONT UNITED H SBEAUMONT ISD2,03516.2
PORT NECHES-GROVES H SPORT NECHES-GROVES ISD1,72014.8
NEDERLAND H SNEDERLAND ISD1,50013.5
HARMONY SCIENCE ACADEMY- BEAUMONT · charterHARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS - HOUSTON WEST1,20615.930%30%
PIETZSCH/MAC ARTHUR ELBEAUMONT ISD1,13416.73%8%
JEFFERSON MIDDLEPORT ARTHUR ISD85713.812%22%
ODOM MIDDLEBEAUMONT ISD83717.146%54%
HELENA PARK ELNEDERLAND ISD76016.552%60%
REGINA HOWELL ELBEAUMONT ISD74216.932%43%
GUESS ELBEAUMONT ISD72217.631%32%

71.2% 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 $1,117 takes 22% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.8 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
22.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,117
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$169,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income2.82Bottom 44%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate62.5%Bottom 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±114109,884Top 9%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$29$1,117Top 21%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,123$169,500Bottom 44%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.3%Top 10%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate13.7%Bottom 48%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
28/ 100
Ranks 1089 of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is broadly steady, 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 253,948 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 5% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 1.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
280
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.1
Bottom 18% nationally
Year over year
−28%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
5.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024256k252k
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
2022202320242025667341
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−49%).

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 44°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 62.1 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 53, in the Moderate band, and about 8 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PORT ARTHUR SE TX AP, 10.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND6.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index71.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation62.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low44°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10082024 calendar year
Median air quality index53.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing30°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
53
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
71
90th percentile index
Days above 100
8
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

39 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, coastal flooding and wildfire.

HurricaneElevated
WildfireModerate
DroughtModerate
Coastal floodingModerate
Winter weatherModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, tornado, cold wave, ice storm, heat wave, inland flooding, strong wind, earthquake, hail, 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 — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Jefferson County records 8.4 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 17.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 21.9 per 100,000 residents in Jefferson County.

Homicide
8.4
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
21.9
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
15.1
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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson County rather than Jefferson 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
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. 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 63 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
EllingtonEFD63 mi9,001 ft
Chennault IntlCWF65 mi10,702 ft
George Bush Intcntl/HoustonIAH72 mi12,001 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
47
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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)
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
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.