Leander, Texas

Area Profile

74,067 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Leander, in Travis County.

76out of 100
Area Score
Top 3% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
OpportunityTop 6% of 4,199 cities measured81
SchoolsTop 13% of 4,162 cities measured79
GrowthTop 18% of 4,224 cities measured67
Housing affordabilityTop 27% of 4,218 cities measured74
Climate2,181st of 4,225 cities measured70
Physical resilienceTop 25% of 4,226 cities measured79
Access2,929th of 4,226 cities measured86
Economic stabilityTop 10% of 4,226 cities measured76
The quick read

Leander ranks in the top 6% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.9% and median household income of $139,048.

Public schools test above most of the state: 59% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 13% of published profiles for schools.

Residential permitting has slowed: 849 units authorized over the past twelve months, 44% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

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
74,067
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$139,048
Top 6% nationally
Density
1,909/sq mi
38.8 sq mi of land
Median age
36.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Texas
Nearest major airport
AUS
29 mi · Austin-Bergstrom Intl
Median home value
$506,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.9%, lower than in 65% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.4% over the past year, to 52,181 employed residents.

53% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 90% of measured US cities.

Median household income of $139,048 is higher than in 94% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$5,0552024 ACS 5-Year$139,048Top 6%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,7792024 ACS 5-Year$60,586Top 10%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year5.6%Top 26%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year31.8 minBottom 27%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year53.3%Top 10%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year58.5%11th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202652,181Bottom 48%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+12.6%Top 1%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.4%Top 29%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202654,29947th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year85.8%Top 21%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageAustin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$74,580Top 30%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageAustin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$56,950Top 29%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%83rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.5%Bottom 19%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.9%Top 35%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year30.6%95th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.92.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.9% 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

2021202220232024140k117k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $139,048 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 — Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
General and Operations Managers42,190$117,850
Fast Food and Counter Workers35,000$29,310
Customer Service Representatives32,690$43,720
Software Developers31,960$134,120
Retail Salespersons29,660$33,860
Stockers and Order Fillers27,430$37,720

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.

59% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 61% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.0 students for every full-time teacher across 23 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
23
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
58.9%
Top 23% in Texas
Reading proficiency
60.9%
Top 15% in Texas
The 12 largest of 23 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Rouse H SLEANDER ISD2,26016.060%75%
Leander H SLEANDER ISD2,13114.460%70%
Glenn H SLEANDER ISD2,02414.454%56%
Florence W Stiles MiddleLEANDER ISD1,49317.083%73%
Stacy Kaye Danielson MiddleLEANDER ISD1,18215.0——
Knox Wiley MiddleLEANDER ISD91613.364%52%
Leander MiddleLEANDER ISD87311.663%51%
Monta Jane Akin ElLEANDER ISD87213.865%72%
Whitestone ElLEANDER ISD85513.659%48%
Tarvin ElLEANDER ISD83814.4——
Larkspur ElLEANDER ISD83412.8——
William J Winkley ElLEANDER ISD76314.763%60%

17.2% 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 2% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 98.3, 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 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area is up 15% over five years, and up 0.3% 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 $9,083 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.79% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,852, close to the $1,939 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,852 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $74,100 a year, about 53% of the median household income here of $139,048.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,939 a month.

A median home at $506,200 costs 3.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $159,365, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
98.3

Prices here run about 2% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, 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
28.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,852
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,939
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$506,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Leander’s median household income of $139,048, 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 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area’s figure202398.3Top 39%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+0.3%10th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+15.2%2nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+80.8%28th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year3.2Bottom 31%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year73.4%45th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5392024 ACS 5-Year27,00098th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,562Bottom 39%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,347Bottom 41%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,852Bottom 40%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$922024 ACS 5-Year$1,939Bottom 9%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$19,7432024 ACS 5-Year$506,20089th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2992024 ACS 5-Year$9,08399th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$6,1192024 ACS 5-Year$159,365Top 5%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.09%2024 ACS 5-Year1.79%88th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year28.4%Top 50%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±352024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year2.5%24th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2682024 ACS 5-Year67492nd 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

67/ 100
Top 18% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, 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 44% since 2020, reaching 87,511 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 1,336 units authorized in 2025, up 12% on the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 849 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

At 11.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
849
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
11.5
Top 9% nationally
Year over year
−44%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202488k61k
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.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420253k1k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−42%).

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 40°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 33.0 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 52, in the Moderate band, and about 7 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 AUSTIN 33 NW, 13.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year802024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals33.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals40°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year72024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year522024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
52
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
80
90th percentile index
Days above 100
7
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 hail, with inland flooding alone responsible for 55% 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 75% of measured US cities.

HailElevated

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

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
58
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
471
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.

Leander's police department reported 58 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 471.

Travis County records 4.2 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 12.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 17.2 per 100,000 residents in Travis County.

Homicide
4.2
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
17.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
14.8
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 Leander’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 Leander (Travis County) rather than Leander 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 Austin-Bergstrom Intl at 29 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year97.3%Top 15%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle29 miBottom 29%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 38%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%Top 14%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Austin-Bergstrom IntlAUS29 mi12,250 ft
San Antonio IntlSAT81 mi8,505 ft
Tstc WacoCNW87 mi8,600 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
76
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—

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Other cities in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
AustinTravis County979,53972Austin vs Leander
Round RockWilliamson County127,78673Round Rock vs Leander
GeorgetownWilliamson County85,99969Georgetown vs Leander
Cedar ParkWilliamson County78,30173
San MarcosHays County70,89758
PflugervilleTravis County65,97175
KyleHays County56,82367
HuttoWilliamson County35,48374
Brushy CreekWilliamson County19,57675
LakewayTravis County19,30771
Steiner RanchTravis County18,61973
ManorTravis County18,60365

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 Leander side by side with a similar place.

Leander vs FateLeander vs Rockwall

Moving to Leander 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 Leander

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Leander 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 Leander 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
7864199,865$135,024$480,400—