Matagorda County, TX

County Profile

36,329 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Matagorda 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.

50out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 19% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity949th of 1,463 counties measured47
Schools1,110th of 1,377 counties measured26
GrowthTop 32% of 1,453 counties measured60
Housing affordability763rd of 1,462 counties measured73
ClimateTop 6% of 1,463 counties measured81
Physical resilience1,336th of 1,463 counties measured22
Access1,054th of 1,463 counties measured69
Economic stability1,153rd of 1,463 counties measured37
The quick read

Unemployment is 6.1% and median household income $58,628, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 43% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.4 students for every teacher.

221 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 13% of 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
36,329
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,628
Bottom 31% nationally
Density
33/sq mi
1,093.1 sq mi of land
Median age
37.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Matagorda County
Texas
Micro area
Nearest major airport
VCT
56 mi · Victoria Rgnl
Median home value
$172,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.1% — higher than in all but 6% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 2.1% over the past year, to 16,364 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$62,70760th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$56,82348th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,3632024 ACS 5-Year$58,628Bottom 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,9042024 ACS 5-Year$32,494Bottom 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$53,904Bottom 41%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year19.3%Bottom 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year26.3 minBottom 46%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year22.2%Bottom 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year77.9%52nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202616,364Bottom 23%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+5.8%Top 6%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+2.1%Top 11%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202617,42224th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year77.4%Top 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%83rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Bottom 47%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20266.1%Bottom 6%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year6.1%27th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/079.24.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.1% 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

202120222023202459k49k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $58,628 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.

43% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 40% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.4 students for every full-time teacher across 15 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
15
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
43.0%
Bottom 22% in Texas
Reading proficiency
39.8%
Bottom 22% in Texas
The 12 largest of 15 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Bay City H SBAY CITY ISD1,04216.321%33%
Tenie Holmes ElBAY CITY ISD76321.846%34%
Bay City J HBAY CITY ISD75019.745%34%
Palacios Junior Senior H SPALACIOS ISD65511.352%57%
Palacios ElPALACIOS ISD61014.542%37%
Roberts ElBAY CITY ISD48619.434%32%
Van Vleck ElVAN VLECK ISD44714.967%47%
Cherry ElBAY CITY ISD43218.035%39%
Van Vleck H SVAN VLECK ISD34211.057%37%
Tidehaven H STIDEHAVEN ISD31212.552%47%
Blessing ElTIDEHAVEN ISD27916.437%42%
Markham ElTIDEHAVEN ISD25515.957%52%

62.5% 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 $2,328 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.35% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,173, some 17% above the $999 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,173 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $46,900 a year, about 80% of the median household income here of $58,628.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $999 a month.

A median home at $172,900 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $67,907, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
29.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,173
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$999
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$172,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Matagorda County’s median household income of $58,628, 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 ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.5Bottom 48%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year68.1%23rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±302024 ACS 5-Year19,05863rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$960Top 50%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,498Top 46%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,173Top 49%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$552024 ACS 5-Year$999Bottom 31%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$18,5332024 ACS 5-Year$172,90046th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2962024 ACS 5-Year$2,32873rd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,5032024 ACS 5-Year$67,907Bottom 30%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.22%2024 ACS 5-Year1.35%84th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year29.9%Bottom 29%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3252024 ACS 5-Year1,51081st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year7.9%75th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year11.1%63rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4382024 ACS 5-Year3,61971st 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

60/ 100
Top 32% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, 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 36,391 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 300 units authorized in 2025, up 96% on the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 221 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 2% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Matagorda County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $62,707, above the $56,823 of households that moved out.

At 6.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
221
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.1
Top 22% nationally
Year over year
−13%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
2.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202436k36k
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
0.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
17%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$62,707
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$56,823
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Brazoria County, TX 266 people · 17% of arrivals
  2. Harris County, TX 241 people · 16% of arrivals
  3. Wharton County, TX 133 people · 8.6% of arrivals
  4. Fort Bend County, TX 96 people · 6.2% of arrivals
  5. Victoria County, TX 44 people · 2.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Brazoria County, TX 284 people · 18% of departures
  2. Harris County, TX 187 people · 12% of departures
  3. Fort Bend County, TX 102 people · 6.6% of departures
  4. Wharton County, TX 98 people · 6.3% of departures
  5. Victoria County, TX 63 people · 4.1% 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

2022202320242025300153
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher 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 92°F and January a low of 46°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.1 inches.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PALACIOS MUNI AP, 15.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals43.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals81991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals30°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

22 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and tornado, with hurricane alone responsible for 60% of it. tornado is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

HurricaneHigh
DroughtElevated
Coastal floodingModerate
Cold waveModerate
Inland floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, wildfire, lightning, tornado, ice storm, hail, earthquake, strong wind, landslide, winter weather, volcanic activity, tsunami, 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.

Matagorda 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 18.8 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 14.9 per 100,000 residents in Matagorda County.

Homicide
4.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
18.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
14.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
33.0
per 100,000 residents

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 Matagorda 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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Victoria Rgnl at 56 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year86.0%Bottom 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle56 miBottom 25%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.3%Bottom 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Victoria RgnlVCT56 mi9,111 ft
Sugar Land RgnlSGR62 mi8,000 ft
EllingtonEFD77 mi9,001 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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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 September 26, 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 Matagorda County, TX