San Marcos, Texas

Area Profile

70,897 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for San Marcos, in Hays County.

58out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 49% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 37% of 4,199 cities measured62
Schools3,496th of 4,162 cities measured23
GrowthTop 22% of 4,224 cities measured64
Housing affordability3,359th of 4,218 cities measured50
ClimateTop 45% of 4,225 cities measured71
Physical resilienceTop 41% of 4,226 cities measured67
Access2,845th of 4,226 cities measured87
Economic stability2,872nd of 4,226 cities measured48
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.2% and median household income $51,281, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.

In the public schools here, 31% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.1 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 663 units authorized over the past twelve months, 38% below the prior year.

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
70,897
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$51,281
Bottom 25% nationally
Density
1,776/sq mi
39.9 sq mi of land
Median age
25.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Texas
Nearest major airport
AUS
27 mi · Austin-Bergstrom Intl
Median home value
$310,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2%, lower than in 55% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.4% over the past year, to 44,853 employed residents.

38% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 80% of measured US cities.

Median household income of $51,281 is lower than in 75% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$2,5672024 ACS 5-Year$51,281Bottom 25%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,6432024 ACS 5-Year$27,545Bottom 28%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year16.5%Bottom 31%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year26.1 minTop 47%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year38.3%Top 20%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year68.4%25th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202644,853Bottom 45%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+7.1%Top 2%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.4%Top 28%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202646,83045th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year83.0%Top 32%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageAustin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$74,580Top 30%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageAustin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$56,950Top 29%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%87th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.3%Bottom 26%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.2%Top 45%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year11.1%65th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.52.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.2% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202451k43k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $51,281 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 — Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
General and Operations Managers42,190$117,850
Fast Food and Counter Workers35,000$29,310
Customer Service Representatives32,690$43,720
Software Developers31,960$134,120
Retail Salespersons29,660$33,860
Stockers and Order Fillers27,430$37,720

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.

31% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 39% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.1 students for every full-time teacher across 14 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
14
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
30.9%
Bottom 2% in Texas
Reading proficiency
39.3%
Bottom 22% in Texas
The 12 largest of 14 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
San Marcos H SSAN MARCOS CISD2,37114.917%42%
Miller MiddleSAN MARCOS CISD89614.738%40%
Goodnight MiddleSAN MARCOS CISD88415.534%35%
Blanco Vista ElHAYS CISD78714.844%48%
Dezavala ElSAN MARCOS CISD58413.334%30%
Bowie ElSAN MARCOS CISD58014.538%35%
Hernandez ElSAN MARCOS CISD57714.143%47%
Mendez ElSAN MARCOS CISD53312.132%37%
Crockett ElSAN MARCOS CISD47712.946%55%
Rodriguez ElSAN MARCOS CISD44513.1——
Travis ElSAN MARCOS CISD44013.328%25%
Bonham Pre-K SchoolSAN MARCOS CISD38017.3——

75.2% 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 2% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 98.3, 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 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area is up 15% over five years, and up 0.3% 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 $4,774 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.54% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,480, some 12% above the $1,322 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,480 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $59,200 a year, about 115% of the median household income here of $51,281.

The typical renter household here spends 40% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,322 a month.

A median home at $310,400 costs 3.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $90,552, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
98.3

Prices here run about 2% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, 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
39.8%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,480
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,322
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$310,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against San Marcos’s median household income of $51,281, 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 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area’s figure202398.3Top 39%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+0.3%10th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+15.2%2nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+80.8%28th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year3.4Bottom 26%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year30.8%2nd percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±8182024 ACS 5-Year30,34998th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,250Top 41%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,880Top 37%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,480Top 40%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$392024 ACS 5-Year$1,322Bottom 26%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$22,1792024 ACS 5-Year$310,40073rd percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$4192024 ACS 5-Year$4,77489th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,9572024 ACS 5-Year$90,552Top 36%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.17%2024 ACS 5-Year1.54%80th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year39.8%Bottom 12%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±272024 ACS 5-Year1669th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%52nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.6%53rd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4872024 ACS 5-Year2,33698th 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

64/ 100
Top 22% of 4,224 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. 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 grown 9% since 2020, reaching 74,316 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 663 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 7% are in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Hays County, TX, which contains San Marcos, rather than for San Marcos alone.

At 9.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
663
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
9.4
Top 13% nationally
Year over year
−38%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
7.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202474k68k
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 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420251k625
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+28%).

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 40°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 31.3 inches.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO, 13.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals31.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals40°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals96°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals33°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

67 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and hail, with inland flooding alone responsible for 69% 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.

HailModerate
Strong windModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, tornado, heat wave, winter weather, lightning, wildfire, cold wave, hurricane, ice storm, landslide, earthquake, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, 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
421
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,940
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.

San Marcos's police department reported 421 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,940.

Hays County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.3 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 11.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 10.0 per 100,000 residents in Hays County.

Homicide
2.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
11.8
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
10.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
13.2
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 San Marcos’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 San Marcos (Hays County) rather than San Marcos 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.

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. 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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Austin-Bergstrom Intl at 27 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year85.3%Bottom 32%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle27 miBottom 31%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 38%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year3.7%Top 29%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Austin-Bergstrom IntlAUS27 mi12,250 ft
San Antonio IntlSAT40 mi8,505 ft
Kelly FldSKF51 mi11,550 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
58
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—

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Other cities in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
AustinTravis County979,53972Austin vs San Marcos
Round RockWilliamson County127,78673Round Rock vs San Marcos
GeorgetownWilliamson County85,99969Georgetown vs San Marcos
Cedar ParkWilliamson County78,30173
LeanderTravis County74,06776
PflugervilleTravis County65,97175
KyleHays County56,82367
HuttoWilliamson County35,48374
Brushy CreekWilliamson County19,57675
LakewayTravis County19,30771
Steiner RanchTravis County18,61973
ManorTravis County18,60365

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 San Marcos side by side with a similar place.

San Marcos vs BereaSan Marcos vs College Park

Moving to San Marcos 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)
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
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
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
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 San Marcos

2 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in San Marcos 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 San Marcos 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
7866688,583$54,737$306,700—
786562,847$81,346$238,10063