AreaProfile

78043Laredo, Texas

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 78043.

64
Area Score
Top 44% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3201st of 4,073 published ZIP areas41
GrowthTop 38% of 3,947 published ZIP areas57
Housing affordabilityTop 28% of 4,553 published ZIP areas89
Climate2787th of 4,621 published ZIP areas67
Physical resilienceTop 35% of 4,554 published ZIP areas70
Access2985th of 4,623 published ZIP areas90
Economic stability3596th of 4,591 published ZIP areas43
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 5.1% and the Opportunity signal places 78043 in the bottom 21%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 1,142 units authorized over the past twelve months, 21% below the prior year.

A major airport is 10 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
45,760
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$54,396
Bottom 21% nationally
Density
258/sq mi
177.1 sq mi of land
Median age
28.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Laredo
Texas
Metro area
Laredo, TX
Nearest major airport
LRD
10 mi · Laredo Intl
Median home value
$170,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.1% is lower than 26% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 0.6% over the past year, to 111,113 employed residents.

Median household income of $54,396 is below 79% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,193$54,396Bottom 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,356$21,214Bottom 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate25.4%Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.6 minBottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher13.1%Bottom 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment111,113Top 24%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)4.6%Top 7%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.6%Top 41%June 2026
Labor force117,109Top 24%June 2026
Labor force participation65.1%Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$48,200Bottom 1%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$37,250Bottom 1%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.3%Top 40%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.1%Top 26%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202455k50k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $54,396 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 — Laredo, TX
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides8,140$23,510
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers5,460$49,010
Fast Food and Counter Workers4,620$23,030
Retail Salespersons3,240$27,530
General and Operations Managers2,780$78,640
Cashiers2,540$26,970

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 does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Laredo, TX, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,005 takes 22% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.1 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
22.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,005
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$170,600
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.14Top 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate56.5%Bottom 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±60014,841Top 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$59$1,005Bottom 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,922$170,600Bottom 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.2%Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate8.3%Bottom 39%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
57/ 100
Top 38% of 3,947 published city profiles

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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 13% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 4.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
1,142
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.4
Top 36% nationally
Year over year
−21%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
12.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Laredo, TX, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 100°F and January a low of 47°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 21.3 inches.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station LAREDO AFB, 10.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation21.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low47°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high100°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing31°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

70 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, lightning and landslide.

HurricaneModerate
LandslideModerate
LightningModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. 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

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 10 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Laredo IntlLRD10 mi8,743 ft
Valley IntlHRL138 mi9,400 ft
San Antonio IntlSAT145 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
64
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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.

78043 vs Laredo

How this ZIP area compares with Laredo as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

78043
Laredo
Median household income
$54,396
vs
$63,915
Per capita income
$21,214
vs
$25,161
Population density
258/sq mi
vs
2,361/sq mi
Median home value
$170,600
vs
$193,500
Median gross rent
$1,005
vs
$1,030
Homeownership rate
56.5%
vs
64.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher
13.1%
vs
22.0%
Poverty rate
25.4%
vs
20.9%
Median age
28.8
vs
29.9

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.