AreaProfile

La Porte, Texas

Area Profile

36,730 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for La Porte, in Harris County.

60
Area Score
Bottom 41% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1095th of 1,567 published cities48
GrowthTop 35% of 1,503 published cities58
Housing affordabilityTop 16% of 1,876 published cities94
ClimateTop 31% of 1,876 published cities75
Physical resilience1509th of 1,849 published cities21
AccessTop 36% of 1,876 published cities97
Economic stability939th of 1,876 published cities61
The quick read

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 20% of median household income.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, hurricane and drought.

A major airport is 8 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
36,730
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$80,753
Top 33% nationally
Density
1,974/sq mi
18.6 sq mi of land
Median age
37.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Harris County
Texas
Metro area
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
Nearest major airport
EFD
8 mi · Ellington
Median home value
$234,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.9% is lower than 10% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.5% over the past year, to 18,034 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$5,023$80,753Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$12,679$44,477Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate12.2%Top 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute26.7 minTop 50%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher17.6%Bottom 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment18,034Bottom 31%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)2.8%Top 17%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.5%Top 38%June 2026
Labor force19,163Bottom 31%June 2026
Labor force participation64.7%Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$67,610Bottom 48%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$49,410Bottom 37%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.8%Top 11%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.9%Top 10%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/068.54.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.9% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202482k79k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $80,753 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

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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,378 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.9 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
20.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,378
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$234,600
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.91Bottom 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate71.1%Bottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±47413,791Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$110$1,378Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,817$234,600Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.5%Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate3.4%Bottom 21%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
58/ 100
Top 35% of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing — 4 consecutive years, measured from 2020 to 2025.

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 38,046 in 2024.

Permit activity has fallen for 4 consecutive years.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
92
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.5
Bottom 49% nationally
Year over year
+12%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202438k35k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202220232024202554984
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−85%).

Weather & climate

7 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 55.6 inches.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station HOUSTON HOBBY AP, 14.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND6.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation55.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low46°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing30°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

21 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and drought.

HurricaneElevated
Inland floodingElevated
LandslideModerate
DroughtModerate

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

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 8 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
EllingtonEFD8 mi9,001 ft
George Bush Intcntl/HoustonIAH28 mi12,001 ft
Sugar Land RgnlSGR37 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
60
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Other cities in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
HoustonHarris County2,328,25357vs La Porte
PasadenaHarris County149,43353vs La Porte
PearlandBrazoria County127,51464vs La Porte
The WoodlandsMontgomery County121,002vs La Porte
League CityGalveston County116,21577vs La Porte
Sugar LandFort Bend County110,01671vs La Porte
ConroeMontgomery County102,36068vs La Porte
AtascocitaHarris County99,354vs La Porte
BaytownHarris County85,20553vs La Porte
Missouri CityFort Bend County76,55862vs La Porte
SpringHarris County68,580vs La Porte
Texas CityGalveston County55,36469vs La Porte

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.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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 browse every source.

ZIP codes in La Porte

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
7757138,543$81,85060