78656 — San Marcos, Texas
Area Profile
Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 78656.
Unemployment is 4.4% and median household income $81,346, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published ZIP profiles.
Residential permitting has slowed: 663 units authorized over the past twelve months, 38% below the prior year.
Rent takes 24% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.9 times that income.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 4.4% is lower than 52% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.
Employment grew 0.2% over the past year, to 44,826 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$32,292 | $81,346 | Top 36% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$6,813 | $32,747 | Bottom 36% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 13.7% | Top 36% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 30.3 min | Top 36% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 23.9% | Top 48% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 44,826 | Bottom 44% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years) | 6.9% | Top 2% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year) | 0.2% | Top 26% | June 2026 |
| Labor force | 46,885 | Bottom 44% | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 73.9% | Top 7% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $74,580 | Top 25% | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $56,950 | Top 24% | 2025 OEWS |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | 0.8% | Top 11% | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.4% | Bottom 48% | June 2026 |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| General and Operations Managers | 42,190 | $117,850 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 35,000 | $29,310 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 32,690 | $43,720 |
| Software Developers | 31,960 | $134,120 |
| Retail Salespersons | 29,660 | $33,860 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 27,430 | $37,720 |
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 does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for San Marcos, TX, the city containing this ZIP code.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated →Median rent of $1,629 takes 24% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 2.9 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 2.93 | Bottom 44% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 69.2% | Bottom 28% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±208 | 987 | Bottom 45% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$164 | $1,629 | Top 18% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$161,092 | $238,100 | Top 45% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 24.0% | Top 18% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 1.1% | Bottom 7% | 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.
At 9.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.
The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for San Marcos, TX, the city containing this ZIP code.
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.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 31.3" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 40°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 96°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 33°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 strong wind, drought and cold wave.
Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, hail, tornado, heat wave, wildfire, winter weather, lightning, hurricane, ice storm, earthquake, landslide.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
Safety
How it’s measured →These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.
Hays County records 2.3 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.
Firearm deaths of all intents run at 11.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at 9.3 per 100,000 residents in Hays County.
Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.
Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Hays County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 78656 rather than 78656 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.
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.
- Reported crime
- The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences 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. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
- 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
3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 22 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin-Bergstrom Intl | AUS | 22 mi | 12,250 ft |
| San Antonio Intl | SAT | 47 mi | 8,505 ft |
| Victoria Rgnl | VCT | 90 mi | 9,111 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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Similar places
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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) |
| safety | U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics Provisional county-level mortality by intent | April, 2025 to March, 2026 | Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years |
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.
78656 vs San Marcos
How this ZIP area compares with San Marcos as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.
Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.