Killeen, Texas

Area Profile

158,159 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Killeen, in Bell County.

57out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 43% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity3,503rd of 4,199 cities measured39
Schools3,487th of 4,162 cities measured23
GrowthTop 16% of 4,224 cities measured69
Housing affordabilityTop 41% of 4,218 cities measured70
Climate2,422nd of 4,225 cities measured68
Physical resilienceTop 26% of 4,226 cities measured79
Access3,855th of 4,226 cities measured66
Economic stability3,452nd of 4,226 cities measured38
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 6.0% and the Opportunity signal places Killeen in the bottom 17%.

In the public schools here, 41% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.9 students for every teacher.

965 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 6% 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
158,159
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$60,977
Bottom 41% nationally
Density
2,895/sq mi
54.6 sq mi of land
Median age
30.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Texas
Nearest major airport
CNW
55 mi · Tstc Waco
Median home value
$215,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.0% — higher than in all but 7% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.8% over the past year, to 60,785 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsBell County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$53,32612th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftBell County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$52,0489th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,9282024 ACS 5-Year$60,977Bottom 41%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,0892024 ACS 5-Year$29,531Bottom 35%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.6%Bottom 28%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year27.5 minBottom 46%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year21.9%Top 46%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year78.0%53rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202660,785Top 50%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.3%Top 27%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.8%Top 50%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202664,67650th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year77.2%Bottom 46%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageKilleen-Temple, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$62,390Bottom 24%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageKilleen-Temple, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$46,660Bottom 14%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%77th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.4%Bottom 23%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20266.0%Bottom 7%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year7.8%51st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.84.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.0% 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

202120222023202461k52k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $60,977 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 — Killeen-Temple, TX

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers7,120$26,530
Registered Nurses5,340$93,440
Stockers and Order Fillers3,970$36,560
Retail Salespersons3,870$29,970
General and Operations Managers3,650$87,920
Cashiers3,250$28,610

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.

41% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 38% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.9 students for every full-time teacher across 37 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
40
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.9
across 37 of them
Math proficiency
41.0%
Bottom 18% in Texas
Reading proficiency
37.8%
Bottom 16% in Texas
The 12 largest of 40 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Robert M Shoemaker H SKILLEEN ISD2,16517.728%34%
Killeen H SKILLEEN ISD2,08317.523%38%
Chaparral H SKILLEEN ISD2,03117.8——
C E Ellison H SKILLEEN ISD1,76116.936%43%
Roy J Smith MiddleKILLEEN ISD1,13517.555%41%
Killeen ElKILLEEN ISD1,09114.9——
Saegert ElKILLEEN ISD94015.250%49%
Pershing Park ElKILLEEN ISD93413.7——
Alice W Douse ElKILLEEN ISD89317.256%49%
Clifton Park ElKILLEEN ISD87514.1——
Reeces Creek ElKILLEEN ISD83214.945%41%
Haynes ElKILLEEN ISD81116.642%39%

66.4% 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 8% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 92.3, 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 Killeen-Temple, TX Metro Area is up 39% over five years, and up 1.7% 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 $3,275 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.52% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,233, close to the $1,208 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,233 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $49,300 a year, about 81% of the median household income here of $60,977.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,208 a month.

A median home at $215,400 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $81,445, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
92.3

Prices here run about 8% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Killeen-Temple, 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
31.6%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,233
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,208
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$215,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Killeen’s median household income of $60,977, 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 Killeen-Temple, TX Metro Area’s figure202392.3Top 14%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Killeen-Temple, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+1.7%32nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Killeen-Temple, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+39.3%38th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Killeen-Temple, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+99.4%60th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.6Bottom 45%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year49.5%9th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±8392024 ACS 5-Year65,79399th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$990Top 22%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,711Top 30%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,233Top 23%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$272024 ACS 5-Year$1,208Bottom 31%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,3142024 ACS 5-Year$215,40057th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1282024 ACS 5-Year$3,27576th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,8122024 ACS 5-Year$81,445Top 46%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year1.52%79th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year31.6%Bottom 33%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1592024 ACS 5-Year26295th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%55th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.8%59th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±6032024 ACS 5-Year6,02499th 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

69/ 100
Top 16% of 4,224 published city 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 4% since 2020, reaching 160,616 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 910 units authorized in 2025, 20% below the prior year.

Federal tax returns show Bell County, which contains Killeen, gained about 0.4% 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 $53,326, close to the $52,048 of households that moved out.

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

Units permitted
965
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.1
Top 23% nationally
Year over year
−6%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
29.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024161k154k
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
+0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
53%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$53,326
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$52,048
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Williamson County, TX 2,511 people · 8.1% of arrivals
  2. Coryell County, TX 2,244 people · 7.2% of arrivals
  3. Travis County, TX 1,823 people · 5.9% of arrivals
  4. McLennan County, TX 816 people · 2.6% of arrivals
  5. Bexar County, TX 733 people · 2.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Coryell County, TX 2,480 people · 8.3% of departures
  2. Williamson County, TX 1,979 people · 6.6% of departures
  3. Travis County, TX 1,316 people · 4.4% of departures
  4. Bexar County, TX 971 people · 3.3% of departures
  5. Harris County, TX 964 people · 3.2% 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 Bell County, TX. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420251k607
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−31%).

Weather & climate

6 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 36°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 34.8 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 46, in the Good band, and about 5 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 KILLEEN, 2.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year702024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals34.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals36°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals96°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year52024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year462024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals37°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
46
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
70
90th percentile index
Days above 100
5
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

79 / 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 36% 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.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 74% of measured US cities.

HailHigh
Cold waveModerate
WildfireModerate
HurricaneModerate

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

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
498
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,643
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.

Killeen's police department reported 498 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,643.

Bell County records 5.6 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 18.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 13.0 per 100,000 residents in Bell County.

Homicide
5.6
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
18.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
13.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
19.1
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 Killeen’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 Killeen (Bell County) rather than Killeen 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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Tstc Waco at 55 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year91.3%Top 43%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle55 miBottom 10%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year5.8%Top 41%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Tstc WacoCNW55 mi8,600 ft
Austin-Bergstrom IntlAUS61 mi12,250 ft
San Antonio IntlSAT115 mi8,505 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
57
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—

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Other cities in Killeen-Temple, TX

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
TempleBell County89,60263Temple vs Killeen
Copperas CoveCoryell County37,94761Copperas Cove vs Killeen
Harker HeightsBell County34,12861Harker Heights vs Killeen
Fort HoodCoryell County26,81461
BeltonBell County24,35662
GatesvilleCoryell County16,228—

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 Killeen side by side with a similar place.

Killeen vs AllentownKilleen vs Burlington

Moving to Killeen 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.

ZIP codes in Killeen

4 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Killeen 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 Killeen 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
7654956,038$70,871$226,00056
7654253,892$74,055$244,00060
7654334,457$48,564$154,00053
7654119,011$37,349$116,300—