Port Neches, Texas

Area Profile

13,664 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Port Neches, in Jefferson County.

59out of 100
Area Score
Top 48% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity2,402nd of 4,199 cities measured53
SchoolsTop 28% of 4,162 cities measured67
GrowthTop 43% of 4,224 cities measured53
Housing affordabilityTop 5% of 4,218 cities measured85
ClimateTop 27% of 4,225 cities measured76
Physical resilience3,031st of 4,226 cities measured36
Access3,741st of 4,226 cities measured70
Economic stability3,270th of 4,226 cities measured41
The quick read

Unemployment is 6.6% and median household income $81,637, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Jefferson County, TX, which contains Port Neches, rather than for Port Neches alone.

In the public schools here, 53% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.3 students for every teacher.

35 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 15% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

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
13,664
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$81,637
Top 32% nationally
Density
1,590/sq mi
8.6 sq mi of land
Median age
41.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Texas
Nearest major airport
CWF
52 mi · Chennault Intl
Median home value
$253,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Jefferson County, TX, which contains Port Neches, is 6.6% — higher than in all but 5% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Jefferson County, TX, which contains Port Neches, grew 0.2% over the past year, to 108,199 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsJefferson County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$52,91412th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftJefferson County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$59,11522nd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$10,3882024 ACS 5-Year$81,637Top 32%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,8362024 ACS 5-Year$45,472Top 23%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±8%2024 ACS 5-Year13.4%Bottom 40%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year19.7 minTop 17%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year26.1%Top 37%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year81.6%65th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJefferson County, TX’s figureJuly 2026108,199Top 42%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Jefferson County, TX’s figureJuly 2026+5.7%Top 4%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Jefferson County, TX’s figureJuly 2026+0.2%Top 31%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJefferson County, TX’s figureJuly 2026115,83859th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year77.7%Bottom 48%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageBeaumont-Port Arthur, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$61,370Bottom 21%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageBeaumont-Port Arthur, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$48,630Bottom 27%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Jefferson County, TX’s figureJuly 2026+0.5%Bottom 19%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJefferson County, TX’s figureJuly 20266.6%Bottom 5%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year4.9%36th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202485k78k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $81,637 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 — Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers5,050$26,630
General and Operations Managers4,560$97,470
Retail Salespersons3,840$29,810
Home Health and Personal Care Aides3,390$23,510
Construction Laborers3,340$44,240
Cashiers3,140$28,730

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.

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

53% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 52% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.3 students for every full-time teacher across 4 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
5
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.3
across 4 of them
Math proficiency
53.5%
Top 37% in Texas
Reading proficiency
52.0%
Top 29% in Texas
All 5 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Port Neches-Groves H SPORT NECHES-GROVES ISD1,72014.854%53%
Port Neches IntPORT NECHES-GROVES ISD60714.8——
Port Neches MiddlePORT NECHES-GROVES ISD57513.452%49%
Port Neches PriPORT NECHES-GROVES ISD57413.3——
Alter SchPORT NECHES-GROVES ISD20.4——

38.1% 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 9% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 90.8, 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 Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX Metro Area is up 33% over five years, and up 3.4% 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 $4,046 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.60% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,144, close to the $1,095 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,144 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $45,800 a year, about 56% of the median household income here of $81,637.

The typical renter household here spends 25% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,095 a month.

A median home at $253,200 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $101,078, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
90.8

Prices here run about 9% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Beaumont-Port Arthur, 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
24.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,144
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,095
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$253,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Port Neches’s median household income of $81,637, 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 Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX Metro Area’s figure202390.8Top 9%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.4%54th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+33.3%23rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+69.7%15th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±1.02024 ACS 5-Year2.5Bottom 49%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year70.3%38th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4992024 ACS 5-Year6,26291st percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$934Top 17%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,502Top 18%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,144Top 17%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1102024 ACS 5-Year$1,095Bottom 39%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$19,2452024 ACS 5-Year$253,20065th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$5512024 ACS 5-Year$4,04684th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$37,9452024 ACS 5-Year$101,078Top 26%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.25%2024 ACS 5-Year1.60%82nd percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year24.5%Top 31%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1002024 ACS 5-Year10690th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.7%67th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year11.0%67th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2612024 ACS 5-Year79393rd 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

53/ 100
Top 43% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 13,709 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 45 units authorized in 2025, up 36% on the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 35 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 14% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Jefferson County, which contains Port Neches, lost about 0.6% 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 $52,914, below the $59,115 of households that moved out.

At 2.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
35
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.6
Top 50% nationally
Year over year
−15%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
14.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202414k14k
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 3 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.6%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
33%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$52,914
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$59,115
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Harris County, TX 1,679 people · 19% of arrivals
  2. Orange County, TX 918 people · 10% of arrivals
  3. Hardin County, TX 771 people · 8.7% of arrivals
  4. Chambers County, TX 232 people · 2.6% of arrivals
  5. Galveston County, TX 171 people · 1.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Harris County, TX 2,054 people · 21% of departures
  2. Orange County, TX 1,150 people · 12% of departures
  3. Hardin County, TX 930 people · 9.4% of departures
  4. Chambers County, TX 254 people · 2.6% of departures
  5. Fort Bend County, TX 247 people · 2.5% 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 Jefferson County, TX. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420254530
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+50%).

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 44°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 62.1 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 53, in the Moderate band, and about 8 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PORT ARTHUR SE TX AP, 3.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year712024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals62.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals44°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year82024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year532024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals30°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
53
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
71
90th percentile index
Days above 100
8
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

36 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and tornado, with hurricane alone responsible for 44% 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.

HurricaneElevated
WildfireModerate
DroughtModerate
Coastal floodingModerate
Winter weatherModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, tornado, cold wave, ice storm, heat wave, inland flooding, strong wind, earthquake, hail, landslide, tsunami, volcanic activity, 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
204
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
875
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.

Port Neches's police department reported 204 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 875.

Jefferson County records 8.7 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 16.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 21.1 per 100,000 residents in Jefferson County.

Homicide
8.7
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
21.1
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
15.5
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 Port Neches’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 Port Neches (Jefferson County) rather than Port Neches 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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Chennault Intl at 52 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year91.4%Top 42%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle52 miBottom 11%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.4%Top 39%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Chennault IntlCWF52 mi10,702 ft
EllingtonEFD76 mi9,001 ft
George Bush Intcntl/HoustonIAH83 mi12,001 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
59
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Other cities in Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
BeaumontJefferson County113,27945Beaumont vs Port Neches
Port ArthurJefferson County55,82844Port Arthur vs Port Neches
OrangeOrange County19,17751Orange vs Port Neches
NederlandJefferson County18,38155
GrovesJefferson County16,97653
LumbertonHardin County13,96366

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 Port Neches side by side with a similar place.

Port Neches vs Lake JacksonPort Neches vs Bayou Cane

Moving to Port Neches 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)
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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
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
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 Port Neches

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Port Neches 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 Port Neches 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
7765113,664$81,637$253,200—