Richmond, Texas

Area Profile

12,582 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Richmond, in Fort Bend County.

52out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 19% of 2,944 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity2958th of 3,904 published cities44
Growth2159th of 2,973 published cities37
Housing affordability3729th of 4,223 published cities52
ClimateTop 38% of 4,223 published cities73
Physical resilience2706th of 4,182 published cities45
AccessTop 19% of 4,226 published cities98
Economic stability3284th of 4,226 published cities44
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 5.1% and the Opportunity signal places Richmond in the bottom 24%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 2 units authorized over the past twelve months, 94% below the prior year.

Rent takes 31% of median household income here, at or above the threshold conventionally called cost-burdened.

At a glance

Population
12,582
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$50,337
Bottom 23% nationally
Density
2,923/sq mi
4.3 sq mi of land
Median age
36.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Fort Bend County
Texas
Metro area
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
Nearest major airport
SGR
7 mi · Sugar Land Rgnl
Median home value
$231,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.1% is lower than 22% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.5% over the past year, to 460,654 employed residents.

Median household income of $50,337 is below 77% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$20,759$50,337Bottom 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5,711$28,926Bottom 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate15.7%Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute32.4 minTop 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher18.9%Bottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment460,654Top 16%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)4.8%Top 7%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.5%Top 41%June 2026
Labor force485,194Top 15%June 2026
Labor force participation57.1%Bottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$67,610Bottom 48%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$49,410Bottom 36%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.8%Top 14%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.1%Top 22%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202469k50k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $50,337 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 — Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers105,810$27,570
General and Operations Managers97,320$119,600
Retail Salespersons78,960$31,340
Stockers and Order Fillers72,970$36,890
Registered Nurses65,910$99,830
Customer Service Representatives65,510$40,380

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 Fort Bend County, TX, which contains this city.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,319 takes 31% of median household income, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.6 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
31.4%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.6×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,319
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$231,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.60Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate53.5%Bottom 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4675,063Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$185$1,319Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$67,120$231,500Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income31.4%Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.1%Bottom 34%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
37/ 100
Ranks 2159 of 2,973 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 15% since 2020, reaching 13,305 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 0.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
2
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.2
Bottom 11% nationally
Year over year
−94%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202413k12k
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
2020202220232024202534311
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−97%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 95°F and January a low of 45°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 49.7 inches.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station HOUSTON SUGARLAND MEM, 6.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation49.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low45°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high95°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing31°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

45 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and drought.

Inland floodingModerate
HurricaneElevated
DroughtModerate

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

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 7 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Sugar Land RgnlSGR7 mi8,000 ft
EllingtonEFD36 mi9,001 ft
George Bush Intcntl/HoustonIAH38 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
52
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Other cities in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
HoustonHarris County2,328,25354vs Richmond
PasadenaHarris County149,43349vs Richmond
PearlandBrazoria County127,51465vs Richmond
The WoodlandsMontgomery County121,002vs Richmond
League CityGalveston County116,21575vs Richmond
Sugar LandFort Bend County110,01671vs Richmond
ConroeMontgomery County102,36067vs Richmond
AtascocitaHarris County99,354vs Richmond
BaytownHarris County85,20550vs Richmond
Missouri CityFort Bend County76,55860vs Richmond
SpringHarris County68,580vs Richmond
Texas CityGalveston County55,36465vs Richmond

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 Richmond side by side with a similar place.

Richmond vs Oak RidgeRichmond vs MangoRichmond vs PleasantvilleRichmond vs Harvey

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 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.