AreaProfile

Little Elm, Texas

Area Profile

54,820 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Little Elm, in Denton County.

73
Area Score
Top 16% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 22% of 1,567 published cities70
GrowthTop 21% of 1,503 published cities66
Housing affordabilityTop 25% of 1,876 published cities90
Climate1391st of 1,876 published cities63
Physical resilienceTop 42% of 1,849 published cities65
Access1123rd of 1,876 published cities92
Economic stabilityTop 20% of 1,876 published cities72
The quick read

Little Elm ranks in the top 22% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.7% and median household income of $119,219.

Residential permitting has slowed: 370 units authorized over the past twelve months, 21% below the prior year.

Its Area Score of 73 places Little Elm in the top 16% of published city profiles.

At a glance

Population
54,820
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$119,219
Top 11% nationally
Density
2,960/sq mi
18.5 sq mi of land
Median age
35.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Denton County
Texas
Metro area
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Nearest major airport
DFW
22 mi · Dallas-Fort Worth Intl
Median home value
$420,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.7% is lower than 39% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.3% over the past year, to 32,190 employed residents.

44% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 85% of measured US cities.

Household income is higher than at least 89% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$8,047$119,219Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,927$48,310Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate9.0%Bottom 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute37.2 minTop 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher44.2%Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment32,190Top 38%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)5.5%Top 5%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.3%Top 31%June 2026
Labor force33,775Top 38%June 2026
Labor force participation72.9%Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$70,630Top 44%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$51,440Top 48%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.7%Top 19%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.7%Top 39%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/065.03.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.7% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024119k102k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $119,219 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 — Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers128,380$28,070
General and Operations Managers125,090$111,010
Stockers and Order Fillers111,100$37,590
Retail Salespersons100,340$33,400
Customer Service Representatives96,930$44,990
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand81,940$38,510

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 $1,953 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.5 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
19.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.5×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,953
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$420,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.53Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate70.1%Bottom 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±69219,778Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$110$1,953Top 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,723$420,700Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income19.7%Top 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.5%Bottom 26%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
66/ 100
Top 21% 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 30% since 2020, reaching 61,219 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 6.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
370
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.7
Top 22% nationally
Year over year
−21%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202461k47k
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
202020222023202420251k414
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−72%).

Weather & climate

5 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 32°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 35.6 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DENTON MUNI AP, 16.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation35.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low32°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high96°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing41°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

65 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hail, cold wave and lightning.

HailHigh
Cold waveModerate
Winter weatherModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, heat wave, ice storm, inland flooding, wildfire, strong wind, earthquake, hurricane, landslide, drought.

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

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 22 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dallas-Fort Worth IntlDFW22 mi13,401 ft
Dallas Love FldDAL24 mi8,800 ft
Perot Fld/Fort Worth AllianceAFW27 mi11,125 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
73
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Other cities in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
DallasDallas County1,307,93064vs Little Elm
Fort WorthTarrant County963,19470vs Little Elm
ArlingtonTarrant County397,74267vs Little Elm
PlanoCollin County290,59472vs Little Elm
IrvingDallas County256,49263vs Little Elm
GarlandDallas County246,84463vs Little Elm
FriscoCollin County219,30476vs Little Elm
McKinneyCollin County210,60075vs Little Elm
Grand PrairieDallas County201,88367vs Little Elm
DentonDenton County152,86670vs Little Elm
MesquiteDallas County149,29963vs Little Elm
CarrolltonDenton County133,74068vs Little Elm

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 Little Elm side by side with a similar place.

Little Elm vs The ColonyLittle Elm vs PlanoLittle Elm vs McKinneyLittle Elm vs Allen

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 Little Elm

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
7506872,710$126,63573