Midland County, TX

County Profile

174,801 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Midland 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.

65out of 100
Area Score
Top 30% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 2% of 1,463 counties measured86
Schools1,359th of 1,377 counties measured6
GrowthTop 17% of 1,453 counties measured68
Housing affordability735th of 1,462 counties measured73
Climate967th of 1,463 counties measured63
Physical resilienceTop 43% of 1,463 counties measured65
AccessTop 14% of 1,463 counties measured95
Economic stabilityTop 34% of 1,463 counties measured71
The quick read

Midland County ranks in the top 2% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.4% and median household income of $92,874.

In the public schools here, 36% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 18.7 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 913 units authorized over the past twelve months, 42% 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
174,801
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$92,874
Top 8% nationally
Density
194/sq mi
900.4 sq mi of land
Median age
32.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Midland County
Texas
Metro area
Nearest major airport
MAF
15 mi · Midland Intl Air and Space Port
Median home value
$312,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.4%, lower than in 77% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 2.1% over the past year, to 101,545 employed residents.

31% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 78% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $92,874 is higher than in 92% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$78,49182nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$103,35796th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,2112024 ACS 5-Year$92,874Top 8%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,2862024 ACS 5-Year$49,746Top 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$144,049Top 1%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.3%Top 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.2 minTop 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year31.0%Top 22%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year79.8%67th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026101,545Top 23%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+7.7%Top 2%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+2.1%Top 11%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026105,16977th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year81.2%Top 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%54th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 20260.0%Bottom 40%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.4%Top 23%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year5.3%19th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.32.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.4% 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

202120222023202494k88k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $92,874 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 — Midland, TX

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
General and Operations Managers4,830$132,420
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers4,540$58,200
Roustabouts, Oil and Gas3,940$47,180
Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas3,460$49,470
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,240$28,650
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers2,700$79,940

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.

36% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 34% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.7 students for every full-time teacher across 44 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
49
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.7
across 44 of them
Math proficiency
35.8%
Bottom 8% in Texas
Reading proficiency
33.6%
Bottom 4% in Texas
The 12 largest of 49 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Legacy H SMIDLAND ISD2,73520.38%5%
Midland H SMIDLAND ISD2,71819.18%9%
Idea Travis Academy · charterMIDLAND ISD1,298———
Goddard J HMIDLAND ISD1,21017.844%40%
Abell J HMIDLAND ISD1,12917.949%42%
General Tommy Franks ElMIDLAND ISD95026.460%50%
Barbara Fasken ElMIDLAND ISD90920.248%44%
Legacy Freshman H SMIDLAND ISD89014.437%45%
Texas Leadership of Midland · charterTEXAS LEADERSHIP PUBLIC SCHOOLS88817.115%22%
Greenwood H SGREENWOOD ISD87914.737%48%
Greathouse ElMIDLAND ISD87222.452%43%
Midland Freshman H SMIDLAND ISD84519.748%47%

56.7% 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 5% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 95.4, 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 Midland, TX Metro Area is up 28% over five years, and up 4.1% 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 $3,832 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.23% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,780, some 27% above the $1,407 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,780 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $71,200 a year, about 77% of the median household income here of $92,874.

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 $1,407 a month.

A median home at $312,700 costs 2.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $113,131, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
95.4

Prices here run about 5% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Midland, 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
29.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,780
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,407
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$312,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Midland County’s median household income of $92,874, 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 Midland, TX Metro Area’s figure202395.4Bottom 44%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Midland, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.1%63rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Midland, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+27.5%7th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Midland, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+66.8%9th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.8Bottom 37%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year67.6%22nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±662024 ACS 5-Year72,72387th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,449Bottom 17%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,286Bottom 13%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,780Bottom 13%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$502024 ACS 5-Year$1,407Bottom 10%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,7782024 ACS 5-Year$312,70082nd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1622024 ACS 5-Year$3,83292nd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,2232024 ACS 5-Year$113,131Top 7%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year1.23%78th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year29.7%Bottom 30%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3462024 ACS 5-Year54761st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%19th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.2%26th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±7292024 ACS 5-Year5,07280th 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

68/ 100
Top 17% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 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 8% since 2020, reaching 183,587 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 1,317 units authorized in 2025, 12% below the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 183,587 residents in 2024, up 2.9% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 913 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Midland County gained about 1.2% 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 $78,491, below the $103,357 of households that moved out.

At 5.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
913
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.2
Top 27% nationally
Year over year
−42%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024184k169k
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 3 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+1.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
32%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$78,491
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$103,357
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Ector County, TX 2,398 people · 19% of arrivals
  2. Harris County, TX 523 people · 4.2% of arrivals
  3. El Paso County, TX 488 people · 3.9% of arrivals
  4. Lubbock County, TX 324 people · 2.6% of arrivals
  5. Tarrant County, TX 279 people · 2.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Ector County, TX 1,929 people · 18% of departures
  2. Harris County, TX 553 people · 5.2% of departures
  3. Tarrant County, TX 442 people · 4.1% of departures
  4. Lubbock County, TX 394 people · 3.7% of departures
  5. El Paso County, TX 323 people · 3.0% 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

2020202120222023202420252k593
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was close to 2020 (+2%).

Weather & climate

5 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 33°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 13.5 inches, including 4.3 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MIDLAND ODESSA, 14.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND1.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals13.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals4.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals33°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals96°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals39°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

65 / 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 45% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

HailHigh
WildfireElevated
DroughtElevated
Heat waveModerate
Strong windModerate

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

Midland County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.7 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 16.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 10.2 per 100,000 residents in Midland County.

Homicide
3.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.9
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
10.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
20.3
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 Midland 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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Midland Intl Air and Space Port at 15 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year91.8%Top 14%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle15 miTop 17%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year5.5%Top 13%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Midland Intl Air and Space PortMAF15 mi9,501 ft
Big Spring/Mc Mahon-WrinkleBPG39 mi8,803 ft
Lea County RgnlHOB93 mi8,000 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
65
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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 Midland 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.