Lubbock, Texas
Area Profile
264,814 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Lubbock, in Lubbock County.
Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by drought, hail and strong wind.
A major airport is 8 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.
Its Area Score of 63 places Lubbock in the top 42% of published city profiles.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 4.5% is lower than 53% of the 140 measured US cities.
Employment fell 0.3% over the past year, to 136,332 employed residents.
35% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 76% of measured US cities.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$1,870 | $60,895 | Bottom 40% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$1,040 | $35,237 | Top 45% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 18.9% | Top 26% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 17.5 min | Bottom 10% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 35.1% | Top 24% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 136,332 | Bottom 45% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years) | 4.2% | Top 7% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year) | -0.3% | Top 25% | June 2026 |
| Labor force | 142,741 | Bottom 44% | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 66.6% | Top 29% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $53,850 | Bottom 2% | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $42,130 | Bottom 2% | 2025 OEWS |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | 0.7% | Top 22% | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.5% | Bottom 47% | June 2026 |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 7,930 | $25,250 |
| Office Clerks, General | 5,440 | $36,940 |
| Registered Nurses | 5,070 | $81,480 |
| Retail Salespersons | 4,580 | $28,480 |
| General and Operations Managers | 4,460 | $80,870 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 4,180 | $35,620 |
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 $1,182 takes 23% 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.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 3.49 | Top 36% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 51.2% | Bottom 10% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±642 | 118,143 | Top 1% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$18 | $1,182 | Top 34% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$4,246 | $212,400 | Top 44% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 23.3% | Top 24% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 9.4% | Bottom 48% | 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 5% since 2020, reaching 272,086 in 2024.
Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before.
At 8.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.
Weather & climate
6 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 27°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 18.3 inches, including 7.0 inches of snow.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 18.3" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Annual snowfall | 7.0" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 27°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 93°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 6 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 40°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 drought, hail and strong wind.
Low or minimal exposure: tornado, cold wave, ice storm, inland flooding, wildfire, heat wave, earthquake, hurricane, landslide.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lubbock Preston Smith Intl | LBB | 8 mi | 11,500 ft |
| Big Spring/Mc Mahon-Wrinkle | BPG | 96 mi | 8,803 ft |
| Lea County Rgnl | HOB | 98 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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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.