Kleberg County, TX

County Profile

30,579 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Kleberg 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.

49out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 17% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity988th of 1,463 counties measured46
SchoolsTop 49% of 1,377 counties measured51
Growth1,400th of 1,453 counties measured18
Housing affordabilityTop 41% of 1,462 counties measured75
ClimateTop 20% of 1,463 counties measured76
Physical resilience1,053rd of 1,463 counties measured41
Access1,369th of 1,463 counties measured44
Economic stability1,196th of 1,463 counties measured34
The quick read

Unemployment is 5.5% and median household income $61,292, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 50% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.6 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 10 units authorized over the past twelve months, 57% 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
30,579
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$61,292
Bottom 39% nationally
Density
35/sq mi
881.3 sq mi of land
Median age
29.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Kleberg County
Texas
Micro area
Nearest major airport
HRL
84 mi · Valley Intl
Median home value
$161,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.5% — higher than in all but 12% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.4% over the past year, to 13,112 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$47,58215th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$50,96226th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,4662024 ACS 5-Year$61,292Bottom 39%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,6092024 ACS 5-Year$26,395Bottom 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$49,566Bottom 22%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year25.1%Bottom 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.7 minTop 23%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year23.2%Top 46%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year75.6%37th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202613,112Bottom 17%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+0.4%Top 31%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202613,87017th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year78.2%Top 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%35th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.4%Bottom 19%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.5%Bottom 12%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year6.2%28th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.53.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.5% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, 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

202120222023202461k50k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $61,292 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.

50% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 44% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.6 students for every full-time teacher across 13 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
13
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.6
across all schools here
Math proficiency
49.8%
Top 42% in Texas
Reading proficiency
43.9%
Bottom 43% in Texas
The 12 largest of 13 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
H M King H SKINGSVILLE ISD91815.340%25%
Harvey ElKINGSVILLE ISD48615.747%32%
Gillett MiddleKINGSVILLE ISD45513.428%31%
Ricardo ElRICARDO ISD44915.557%57%
Santa Gertrudis SchoolSANTA GERTRUDIS ISD43315.569%70%
Santa Gertrudis Academy H SSANTA GERTRUDIS ISD39315.785%77%
Perez ElKINGSVILLE ISD36414.052%47%
Harrel ElKINGSVILLE ISD31115.637%27%
Jubilee Kingsville · charterJUBILEE ACADEMIES30215.132%32%
Ricardo MiddleRICARDO ISD21015.064%60%
Kaufer H SRIVIERA ISD18110.652%52%
Nanny ElRIVIERA ISD14311.052%57%

69.8% 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 $2,369 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.47% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,238, some 19% above the $1,043 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,238 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $49,500 a year, about 81% of the median household income here of $61,292.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,043 a month.

A median home at $161,300 costs 1.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $85,174, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
28.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,238
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,043
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$161,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Kleberg County’s median household income of $61,292, 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 ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year1.9Top 17%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year52.5%2nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1362024 ACS 5-Year14,01253rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$953Top 49%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,484Top 45%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,238Bottom 43%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$682024 ACS 5-Year$1,043Bottom 27%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$13,1892024 ACS 5-Year$161,30038th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$4002024 ACS 5-Year$2,36974th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$6,0752024 ACS 5-Year$85,174Top 32%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.28%2024 ACS 5-Year1.47%88th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year28.7%Bottom 41%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2552024 ACS 5-Year64765th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year4.6%63rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year10.8%61st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3642024 ACS 5-Year2,15957th 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

18/ 100
Ranks 1,400 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of 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 fallen 2% since 2020, to 30,442 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 10 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Kleberg County lost about 1.1% 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 $47,582, below the $50,962 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
10
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.3
Bottom 5% nationally
Year over year
−57%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202431k30k
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 holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−1.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
24%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$47,582
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$50,962
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Nueces County, TX 424 people · 26% of arrivals
  2. Hidalgo County, TX 83 people · 5.2% of arrivals
  3. Jim Wells County, TX 73 people · 4.5% of arrivals
  4. Bexar County, TX 56 people · 3.5% of arrivals
  5. Harris County, TX 50 people · 3.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Nueces County, TX 466 people · 25% of departures
  2. Bexar County, TX 136 people · 7.3% of departures
  3. Jim Wells County, TX 90 people · 4.9% of departures
  4. Hidalgo County, TX 83 people · 4.5% of departures
  5. San Patricio County, TX 57 people · 3.1% 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

20222023202420252718
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−33%).

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 96°F and January a low of 47°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 27.0 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 43, in the Good band, and about 4 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station KINGSVILLE NAAS, 10.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year712024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals27.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals47°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals96°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals81991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year42024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year432024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals29°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
43
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
71
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
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. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

41 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are cold wave, hurricane and inland flooding, with cold wave alone responsible for 45% of it. Cold wave and inland flooding are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

HurricaneHigh
HailModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, heat wave, wildfire, drought, ice storm, inland flooding, tornado, coastal flooding, winter weather, strong wind, earthquake, landslide, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

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.

Kleberg County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.2 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 9.9 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 7.6 per 100,000 residents in Kleberg County.

Homicide
4.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
7.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
11.9
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 Kleberg 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.
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

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Valley Intl at 84 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year86.4%Bottom 46%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle84 miBottom 8%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year10.9%Bottom 45%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Valley IntlHRL84 mi9,400 ft
Victoria RgnlVCT108 mi9,111 ft
Laredo IntlLRD111 mi8,743 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
49
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

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
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
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 Kleberg 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.