La Porte, Texas
Area Profile
36,730 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for La Porte, in Harris County.
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
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.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$5,023 | $80,753 | Top 33% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$12,679 | $44,477 | Top 24% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 12.2% | Top 45% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 26.7 min | Top 50% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 17.6% | Bottom 42% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 18,034 | Bottom 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 force | 19,163 | Bottom 31% | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 64.7% | Top 35% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $67,610 | Bottom 48% | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $49,410 | Bottom 37% | 2025 OEWS |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | 0.8% | Top 11% | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.9% | Top 10% | June 2026 |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 105,810 | $27,570 |
| General and Operations Managers | 97,320 | $119,600 |
| Retail Salespersons | 78,960 | $31,340 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 72,970 | $36,890 |
| Registered Nurses | 65,910 | $99,830 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 65,510 | $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.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 2.91 | Bottom 49% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 71.1% | Bottom 40% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±474 | 13,791 | Top 4% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$110 | $1,378 | Top 24% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$7,817 | $234,600 | Top 39% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 20.5% | Top 38% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 3.4% | 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 →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.
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.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 55.6" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 46°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 93°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 30°F | 1991-2020 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
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and drought.
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.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ellington | EFD | 8 mi | 9,001 ft |
| George Bush Intcntl/Houston | IAH | 28 mi | 12,001 ft |
| Sugar Land Rgnl | SGR | 37 mi | 8,000 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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Other cities in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
Same metropolitan area, measured the same way| City | County | Population | Area Score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | Harris County | 2,328,253 | 57 | vs La Porte |
| Pasadena | Harris County | 149,433 | 53 | vs La Porte |
| Pearland | Brazoria County | 127,514 | 64 | vs La Porte |
| The Woodlands | Montgomery County | 121,002 | — | vs La Porte |
| League City | Galveston County | 116,215 | 77 | vs La Porte |
| Sugar Land | Fort Bend County | 110,016 | 71 | vs La Porte |
| Conroe | Montgomery County | 102,360 | 68 | vs La Porte |
| Atascocita | Harris County | 99,354 | — | vs La Porte |
| Baytown | Harris County | 85,205 | 53 | vs La Porte |
| Missouri City | Fort Bend County | 76,558 | 62 | vs La Porte |
| Spring | Harris County | 68,580 | — | vs La Porte |
| Texas City | Galveston County | 55,364 | 69 | vs 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.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
Put La Porte side by side with a similar place.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | June 2026 | Monthly |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS | Annual (spring release) |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate | Annual (vintage released each spring) |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 | Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (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| ZIP | Population | Median household income | Area Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 77571 | 38,543 | $81,850 | 60 |