Pampa, Texas

Area Profile

16,659 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Pampa, in Gray County.

47out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 12% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity2,603rd of 4,199 cities measured50
SchoolsTop 49% of 4,162 cities measured50
Growth3,982nd of 4,224 cities measured20
Housing affordabilityTop 34% of 4,218 cities measured72
Climate2,608th of 4,225 cities measured67
Physical resilience3,496th of 4,226 cities measured23
Access3,842nd of 4,226 cities measured67
Economic stability3,661st of 4,226 cities measured34
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.2% and median household income $56,626, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Gray County, TX, which contains Pampa, rather than for Pampa alone.

In the public schools here, 57% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.7 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 3 units authorized over the past twelve months, against 6 the year before.

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
16,659
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$56,626
Bottom 34% nationally
Density
1,847/sq mi
9 sq mi of land
Median age
35.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Texas
Micro area
Nearest major airport
AMA
48 mi · Rick Husband Amarillo Intl
Median home value
$100,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Gray County, TX, which contains Pampa, is 4.2%, lower than in 55% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Gray County, TX, which contains Pampa, fell 0.3% over the past year, to 8,606 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsGray County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$49,5847th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftGray County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$51,3909th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$6,9572024 ACS 5-Year$56,626Bottom 34%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,4152024 ACS 5-Year$35,014Top 46%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year16.4%Bottom 31%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year18.4 minTop 12%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year17.0%Bottom 40%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year84.4%74th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentGray County, TX’s figureJuly 20268,606Bottom 1%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Gray County, TX’s figureJuly 2026+0.5%Top 37%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Gray County, TX’s figureJuly 2026−0.3%Top 41%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceGray County, TX’s figureJuly 20268,9811st percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year78.1%Top 50%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Gray County, TX’s figureJuly 2026+0.1%Bottom 34%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateGray County, TX’s figureJuly 20264.2%Top 45%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year4.6%34th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202457k48k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $56,626 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.

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

57% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 38% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.7 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.7
across all schools here
Math proficiency
56.6%
Top 28% in Texas
Reading proficiency
37.6%
Bottom 15% in Texas
All 6 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Pampa H SPAMPA ISD1,01214.365%40%
Pampa J HPAMPA ISD68013.944%34%
William B Travis ElPAMPA ISD47015.2——
Lamar ElPAMPA ISD41515.4——
Stephen F Austin ElPAMPA ISD37115.5——
Woodrow Wilson ElPAMPA ISD19317.5——

62.4% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Texas is up 44% over five years, and up 2.9% 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 $1,407 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.40% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,037, some 11% above the $934 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,037 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $41,500 a year, about 73% of the median household income here of $56,626.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $934 a month.

A median home at $100,700 costs 1.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $70,056, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
30.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,037
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$934
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$100,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Pampa’s median household income of $56,626, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Texas’s figure2026 Q2+2.9%47th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Texas’s figure2026 Q2+43.8%53rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Texas’s figure2026 Q2+97.6%57th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year1.4Top 13%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year74.1%46th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1292024 ACS 5-Year8,45193rd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$790Top 7%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,243Top 5%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,037Top 10%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$462024 ACS 5-Year$934Top 46%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$13,2442024 ACS 5-Year$100,70019th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2132024 ACS 5-Year$1,40739th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$8,9542024 ACS 5-Year$70,056Bottom 37%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.28%2024 ACS 5-Year1.40%73rd percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year30.3%Bottom 39%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±472024 ACS 5-Year7787th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%61st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year17.8%85th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2342024 ACS 5-Year1,58297th 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.

Development Momentum

20/ 100
Ranks 3,982 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 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 fallen 2% since 2020, to 16,487 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 3 units authorized in 2025, against 7 the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 3 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Gray County, which contains Pampa, lost about 0.5% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $49,584, close to the $51,390 of households that moved out.

At 0.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
3
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.2
Bottom 9% nationally
Year over year
−50%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202417k16k
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 falling, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
31%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$49,584
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$51,390
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Randall County, TX 114 people · 13% of arrivals
  2. Potter County, TX 78 people · 9.0% of arrivals
  3. Hutchinson County, TX 47 people · 5.4% of arrivals
  4. Carson County, TX 46 people · 5.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Randall County, TX 126 people · 13% of departures
  2. Potter County, TX 82 people · 8.6% of departures
  3. Hutchinson County, TX 51 people · 5.4% of departures
  4. Lubbock County, TX 41 people · 4.3% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Gray County, TX. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420257.00.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey.

Weather & climate

7 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 23°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 22.8 inches, including 15.7 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PAMPA #2, 0.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals22.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals15.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals23°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals43°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

23 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are drought, tornado and cold wave, with drought alone responsible for 24% of it.

DroughtHigh
WildfireHigh
HailHigh
Winter weatherModerate
Ice stormModerate
TornadoModerate
Cold waveElevated
Strong windElevated

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, earthquake, hurricane, inland flooding, heat wave, landslide, avalanche, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding.

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
500
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,342
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.

Pampa's police department reported 500 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,342.

Gray County has a modeled homicide rate of about 5.4 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 18.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 18.2 per 100,000 residents in Gray County.

Homicide
5.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
18.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
18.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
22.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 Pampa’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 Pampa (Gray County) rather than Pampa 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.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this 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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Rick Husband Amarillo Intl at 48 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year88.9%Bottom 46%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle48 miBottom 14%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.9%Bottom 43%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rick Husband Amarillo IntlAMA48 mi13,502 ft
Infinity One Oklahoma SpaceportCSM100 mi13,503 ft
Lubbock Preston Smith IntlLBB139 mi11,500 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 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)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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
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 Pampa

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Pampa 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 Pampa 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
7906519,378$58,912$110,000—