Live Oak, Texas

Area Profile

15,984 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Live Oak, in Bexar County.

63out of 100
Area Score
Top 40% of 2,943 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity2,096th of 3,899 cities measured54
GrowthTop 43% of 2,973 cities measured54
Housing affordabilityTop 45% of 4,147 cities measured84
ClimateTop 42% of 4,223 cities measured72
Physical resilience2,657th of 4,182 cities measured46
AccessTop 29% of 4,226 cities measured97
Economic stabilityTop 15% of 4,226 cities measured76
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.8% and median household income $79,696, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published city profiles.

Residential permitting has slowed: 44 units authorized over the past twelve months, 17% below the prior year.

San Antonio Intl is 8 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

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
15,984
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$79,696
Top 34% nationally
Density
3,360/sq mi
4.8 sq mi of land
Median age
35.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Bexar County
Texas
Metro area
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
Nearest major airport
SAT
8 mi · San Antonio Intl
Median home value
$246,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% is lower than 32% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.0% over the past year, to 994,829 employed residents.

32% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 72% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$3,503$79,696Top 34%of 29,4632024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,445$41,485Top 30%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate5.5%Bottom 26%of 31,9002024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.5 minBottom 28%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher32.1%Top 28%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Employment994,829Top 5%of 3,904June 2026
Employment change (3 years)2.3%Top 20%of 3,903June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.0%Bottom 44%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force1,045,236Top 5%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force participation69.4%Top 20%of 31,9332024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$61,140Bottom 19%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Median annual wage$47,010Bottom 16%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.7%Top 19%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate4.8%Top 32%of 3,904June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202480k69k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $79,696 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 — San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers40,040$27,810
Customer Service Representatives34,730$42,720
Home Health and Personal Care Aides31,420$25,960
General and Operations Managers30,560$99,790
Retail Salespersons27,580$30,960
Stockers and Order Fillers27,440$37,360

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 publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Bexar County, TX, which contains this city.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Prices for everything a household buys run about 6% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 94.3, against 100 for the nation. Housing drives most of that difference.

A new two-bedroom lease runs about $1,400, below the $1,634 tenants already here pay, which is unusual and generally means asking rents have softened.

Median rent of $1,634 takes 25% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home at $246,300 costs 3.1 times the median household income of $79,696, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Cost of living
94.3

Prices here run about 6% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Rent as a share of income
24.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,400
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,634
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$246,300
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living index94.3Bottom 24%of 3,6582023
Home price to income3.09Top 45%of 27,9722024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate57.9%Bottom 17%of 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4396,955Top 9%of 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroom$1,156Bottom 34%of 4,067FY2026
Market rent, three bedroom$1,796Bottom 34%of 4,067FY2026
Market rent, two bedroom$1,400Bottom 35%of 4,067FY2026
Median gross rent ±$87$1,634Top 17%of 23,3292024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$15,307$246,300Top 36%of 29,3422024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income24.6%Top 18%of 22,8042024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.6%Bottom 27%of 31,8722024 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
54/ 100
Top 43% of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run, not a comparison of the two endpoints.

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 3% since 2020, reaching 16,218 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 44 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
44
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.8
Top 45% nationally
Year over year
−17%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202416k16k
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
202020222023202420255746
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−19%).

Weather & climate

7 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 41°F.

Air quality measures a median index of 52, in the Moderate band, and about 22 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 RANDOLPH AFB, 4.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index87.02024 calendar year
Average January low41°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high96°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 100222024 calendar year
Median air quality index52.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing33°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
52
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
87
90th percentile index
Days above 100
22
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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modeled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — a little over half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and about a fifth of all US counties do, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

46 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hail and landslide, with inland flooding alone responsible for 59% of it.

HailHigh
Inland floodingModerate
LandslideModerate

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

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
257
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
3,088
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.

Live Oak's police department reported 257 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 3,088.

Bexar County records 7.1 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 14.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 14.8 per 100,000 residents in Bexar County.

Homicide
7.1
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
14.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
12.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Live Oak’s own police department, for the population it serves, and are shown only where it reported every month of the year — a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime counts what was reported to and recorded by police, which is not the same as what happened, and a place that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate. Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Bexar County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city center and a quiet suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Live Oak rather than Live Oak itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Some things people look for are not on this page, and each is absent for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighborhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest San Antonio Intl at 8 miles.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
San Antonio IntlSAT8 mi8,505 ft
Austin-Bergstrom IntlAUS60 mi12,250 ft
Victoria RgnlVCT98 mi9,111 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
63
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Other cities in San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
San AntonioBexar County1,479,83557vs Live Oak
New BraunfelsGuadalupe County104,64372vs Live Oak
SchertzBexar County44,05069vs Live Oak
Timberwood ParkBexar County35,413vs Live Oak
CiboloGuadalupe County35,10972vs Live Oak
Canyon LakeComal County33,883vs Live Oak
SeguinGuadalupe County33,75464vs Live Oak
ConverseBexar County29,60762vs Live Oak
BoerneKendall County20,51869vs Live Oak
Universal CityBexar County20,18962vs Live Oak
SelmaBexar County11,50365vs Live Oak
Leon ValleyBexar County11,44661vs Live Oak

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
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar yearAnnually, with monthly revisions
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)
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
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)
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)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April 2025 to March 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026Annually, each October for the coming fiscal year
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 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.