Kilgore, Texas

Area Profile

13,470 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Kilgore, in Gregg County.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 40% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
Opportunity3,192nd of 4,199 cities measured44
Schools3,083rd of 4,162 cities measured31
GrowthTop 33% of 4,224 cities measured58
Housing affordability2,713th of 4,218 cities measured60
Climate2,226th of 4,225 cities measured70
Physical resilienceTop 36% of 4,226 cities measured70
AccessTop 21% of 4,226 cities measured98
Economic stability3,776th of 4,226 cities measured31
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.2% and the Opportunity signal places Kilgore in the bottom 24%. The unemployment rate is published for Gregg County, TX, which contains Kilgore, rather than for Kilgore alone.

In the public schools here, 42% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.1 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 37% of renter income here, above the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.0 times what its owners earn.

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
13,470
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$66,295
Bottom 49% nationally
Density
724/sq mi
18.6 sq mi of land
Median age
35.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Texas
Metro area
Nearest major airport
GGG
9 mi · East Texas Rgnl
Median home value
$171,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Gregg County, TX, which contains Kilgore, is 5.2% — higher than in all but 19% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Gregg County, TX, which contains Kilgore, fell 0.1% over the past year, to 54,734 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$9,8372024 ACS 5-Year$66,295Bottom 49%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,2882024 ACS 5-Year$27,812Bottom 29%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year17.4%Bottom 28%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.5 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.7 minTop 39%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year19.2%Bottom 46%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year82.2%67th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentGregg County, TX’s figureJuly 202654,734Bottom 48%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Gregg County, TX’s figureJuly 2026+0.2%Top 43%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Gregg County, TX’s figureJuly 2026−0.1%Top 36%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceGregg County, TX’s figureJuly 202657,76249th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year74.6%Bottom 38%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageLongview, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$55,480Bottom 6%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageLongview, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$45,150Bottom 7%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%75th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Gregg County, TX’s figureJuly 2026+0.4%Bottom 23%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateGregg County, TX’s figureJuly 20265.2%Bottom 19%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year5.6%40th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202466k54k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $66,295 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 — Longview, TX

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers4,220$26,730
General and Operations Managers3,590$89,660
Stockers and Order Fillers3,300$35,770
Retail Salespersons3,110$29,130
Cashiers2,530$27,740
Registered Nurses2,480$80,330

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 Gregg County, TX, which contains this city.

42% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 40% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.1 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
41.5%
Bottom 19% in Texas
Reading proficiency
39.6%
Bottom 23% in Texas
All 6 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Kilgore H SKILGORE ISD1,16714.436%36%
Kilgore MiddleKILGORE ISD84014.040%37%
Kilgore PriKILGORE ISD62114.1——
Sabine ElSABINE ISD61815.459%56%
Kilgore IntKILGORE ISD53113.338%34%
Chandler ElKILGORE ISD50113.239%38%

69.4% 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 11% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 89.0, 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 Longview, TX Metro Area is up 47% 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 $2,458 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.43% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,199, some 19% above the $1,010 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,199 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $48,000 a year, about 72% of the median household income here of $66,295.

The typical renter household here spends 37% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,010 a month.

A median home at $171,600 costs 2.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $85,830, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
89.0

Prices here run about 11% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Longview, 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
36.9%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,199
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,010
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$171,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Kilgore’s median household income of $66,295, 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 Longview, TX Metro Area’s figure202389.0Top 4%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Longview, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.4%54th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Longview, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+47.3%69th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Longview, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+80.8%28th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.0Top 32%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year71.4%40th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3442024 ACS 5-Year5,21389th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,013Top 24%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,606Top 23%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,199Top 21%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1922024 ACS 5-Year$1,010Bottom 46%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$22,8502024 ACS 5-Year$171,60046th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2802024 ACS 5-Year$2,45865th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$6,0722024 ACS 5-Year$85,830Top 41%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.25%2024 ACS 5-Year1.43%75th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±15%2024 ACS 5-Year36.9%Bottom 16%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±712024 ACS 5-Year4381st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%60th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year12.8%73rd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2132024 ACS 5-Year71193rd 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

58/ 100
Top 33% of 4,224 published city 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 grown 2% since 2020, reaching 13,583 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 24 units authorized in 2025, against 19 the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 31 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
31
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.3
Bottom 46% nationally
Year over year
+94%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202414k13k
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.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420253519
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+9%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 94°F and January a low of 37°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.3 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 37, in the Good band, and about 2 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station LONGVIEW E TX RGNL AP, 8.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year512024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals45.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals37°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year22024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year372024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals36°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
37
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
51
90th percentile index
Days above 100
2
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

70 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 29% of it. Inland flooding and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Ice stormModerate
TornadoModerate
LightningModerate
Winter weatherModerate
HurricaneModerate
HailModerate
DroughtModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, heat wave, cold wave, wildfire, inland flooding, earthquake, coastal flooding, tsunami, avalanche, volcanic activity.

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
271
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,709
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.

Kilgore's police department reported 271 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,709.

Gregg County has a modeled homicide rate of about 6.2 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 16.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 7.9 per 100,000 residents in Gregg County.

Homicide
6.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.6
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
7.9
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
19.8
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 Kilgore’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 Kilgore (Gregg County) rather than Kilgore 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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest East Texas Rgnl at 9 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year83.3%Bottom 26%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle9 miTop 21%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 38%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year12.8%Bottom 27%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
East Texas RgnlGGG9 mi10,000 ft
Tyler Pounds RgnlTYR32 mi8,334 ft
Shreveport RgnlSHV60 mi8,348 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
56
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Other cities in Longview, TX

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
LongviewGregg County82,92358Longview vs Kilgore
MarshallHarrison County23,82555Marshall vs Kilgore
HendersonRusk County13,38560Henderson vs Kilgore

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 Kilgore side by side with a similar place.

Kilgore vs AthensKilgore vs Vineland

Moving to Kilgore 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)
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
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
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.

ZIP codes in Kilgore

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Kilgore with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Kilgore closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
7566225,034$70,096$173,900—