Dickinson, Texas

Area Profile

21,753 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Dickinson, in Galveston County.

63out of 100
Area Score
Top 34% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
OpportunityTop 47% of 4,199 cities measured57
SchoolsTop 38% of 4,162 cities measured59
Growth2,222nd of 4,224 cities measured49
Housing affordabilityTop 25% of 4,218 cities measured75
ClimateTop 19% of 4,225 cities measured79
Physical resilienceTop 48% of 4,226 cities measured59
AccessTop 37% of 4,226 cities measured95
Economic stability2,868th of 4,226 cities measured48
The quick read

Unemployment is 5.1% and median household income $91,779, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Galveston County, TX, which contains Dickinson, rather than for Dickinson alone.

In the public schools here, 52% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.7 students for every teacher. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Galveston County, TX, which contains Dickinson, rather than for Dickinson alone.

43 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 14% 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
21,753
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$91,779
Top 23% nationally
Density
2,183/sq mi
10 sq mi of land
Median age
33.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Texas
Nearest major airport
EFD
12 mi · Ellington
Median home value
$278,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Galveston County, TX, which contains Dickinson, is 5.1% — higher than in all but 22% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Galveston County, TX, which contains Dickinson, grew 0.2% over the past year, to 173,982 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsGalveston County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$80,04961st percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftGalveston County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$78,84063rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$11,3592024 ACS 5-Year$91,779Top 23%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,9532024 ACS 5-Year$36,439Top 42%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year11.7%Bottom 46%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year31.1 minBottom 29%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year25.5%Top 38%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year75.5%44th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentGalveston County, TX’s figureJuly 2026173,982Top 35%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Galveston County, TX’s figureJuly 2026+2.5%Top 16%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Galveston County, TX’s figureJuly 2026+0.2%Top 32%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceGalveston County, TX’s figureJuly 2026183,36065th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year77.6%Bottom 48%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageHouston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$67,610Bottom 48%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageHouston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$49,410Bottom 36%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%81st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Galveston County, TX’s figureJuly 2026+0.4%Bottom 24%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateGalveston County, TX’s figureJuly 20265.1%Bottom 22%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.3%61st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202492k77k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $91,779 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 — Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers105,810$27,570
General and Operations Managers97,320$119,600
Retail Salespersons78,960$31,340
Stockers and Order Fillers72,970$36,890
Registered Nurses65,910$99,830
Customer Service Representatives65,510$40,380

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Galveston County, TX, which contains this city.

52% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 50% in reading, across the schools here that reported results. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Galveston County, TX, which contains Dickinson, rather than for Dickinson alone.

There are 15.7 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places. The student-teacher ratio is published for Galveston County, TX, which contains Dickinson, rather than for Dickinson alone.

Public schools
—
Students per teacher
15.7
Math proficiency
52.0%
Top 41% in Texas
Reading proficiency
49.8%
Top 34% in Texas

The proficiency and staffing figures above are for Galveston County, TX: too few schools in Dickinson reported a usable figure on their own to weight one honestly.

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 at about the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 99.7, 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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area is up 33% over five years, and up 3.4% 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 $4,159 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.50% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,597, some 30% above the $1,231 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,597 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $63,900 a year, about 70% of the median household income here of $91,779.

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 $1,231 a month.

A median home at $278,000 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $109,140, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
99.7

Prices here run at about the national average. Where places do differ, housing drives most of it — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, 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
28.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,597
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,231
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$278,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Dickinson’s median household income of $91,779, 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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area’s figure202399.7Top 43%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.4%54th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+32.7%21st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+68.8%13th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.5Bottom 48%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year71.8%41st percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5162024 ACS 5-Year8,29193rd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,348Top 47%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,146Top 48%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,597Top 46%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1182024 ACS 5-Year$1,231Bottom 30%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$18,9462024 ACS 5-Year$278,00069th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$3002024 ACS 5-Year$4,15984th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,8952024 ACS 5-Year$109,140Top 21%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.15%2024 ACS 5-Year1.50%78th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year28.9%Bottom 47%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±282024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.9%49th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2102024 ACS 5-Year56991st percentileof 32,3302024 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

49/ 100
Ranks 2,222 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of 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 2% since 2020, reaching 21,941 in 2024.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 21,941 residents in 2024, up 0.3% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 43 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Galveston County, which contains Dickinson, gained about 0.7% 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 $80,049, close to the $78,840 of households that moved out.

At 2.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
43
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.0
Bottom 42% nationally
Year over year
−14%
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 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.7%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
26%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$80,049
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$78,840
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Harris County, TX 8,050 people · 42% of arrivals
  2. Brazoria County, TX 1,618 people · 8.4% of arrivals
  3. Fort Bend County, TX 552 people · 2.9% of arrivals
  4. Montgomery County, TX 354 people · 1.8% of arrivals
  5. Travis County, TX 251 people · 1.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Harris County, TX 6,042 people · 35% of departures
  2. Brazoria County, TX 1,644 people · 9.6% of departures
  3. Montgomery County, TX 443 people · 2.6% of departures
  4. Fort Bend County, TX 439 people · 2.6% of departures
  5. Travis County, TX 286 people · 1.7% 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. This is the figure for Galveston County, TX. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202517642
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−76%).

Weather & climate

8 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 46°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 53.3 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 44, in the Good band, and about 8 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 HOUSTON CLOVER FLD, 12.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year672024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals53.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals81991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year82024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year442024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals30°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
44
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
67
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. 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

59 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and hurricane, with inland flooding alone responsible for 32% of it. Cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

LightningModerate
HurricaneElevated
DroughtModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Coastal floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, tornado, heat wave, ice storm, wildfire, 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). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
141
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
861
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Dickinson's police department reported 141 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 861.

Galveston County records 5.8 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 14.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 14.1 per 100,000 residents in Galveston County.

Homicide
5.8
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
14.1
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
18.2
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Dickinson’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Dickinson (Galveston County) rather than Dickinson itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Ellington at 12 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year87.9%Bottom 42%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle12 miTop 34%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year8.8%Bottom 43%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
EllingtonEFD12 mi9,001 ft
Sugar Land RgnlSGR38 mi8,000 ft
George Bush Intcntl/HoustonIAH41 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
63
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—

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Other cities in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
HoustonHarris County2,328,25355Houston vs Dickinson
PasadenaHarris County149,43348Pasadena vs Dickinson
PearlandBrazoria County127,51462Pearland vs Dickinson
The WoodlandsMontgomery County121,00272
League CityGalveston County116,21572
Sugar LandFort Bend County110,01669
ConroeMontgomery County102,36065
AtascocitaHarris County99,35460
BaytownHarris County85,20548
Missouri CityFort Bend County76,55857
SpringHarris County68,58053
Texas CityGalveston County55,36462

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Dickinson side by side with a similar place.

Dickinson vs La GrangeDickinson vs Watauga

Moving to Dickinson from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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.