Sugar Land, Texas
Area Profile
110,016 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Sugar Land, in Fort Bend County.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 15 sourcesSugar Land ranks in the top 25% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.6% and median household income of $136,217.
Public schools test above most of the state: 69% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 8% of published profiles for schools.
Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 466 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, against 52 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
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 4.6% — higher than in all but 40% of the 4,226 measured US cities.
Employment grew 0.2% over the past year, to 53,786 employed residents.
63% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 94% of measured US cities.
Median household income of $136,217 is higher than in 94% of measured US cities.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsFort Bend County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $81,110 | 62nd percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftFort Bend County, TX’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $85,420 | 70th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$5,0412024 ACS 5-Year | $136,217 | Top 6%of 29,223 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$2,7742024 ACS 5-Year | $62,018 | Top 9%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year | 5.5% | Top 26%of 31,773 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 31.6 min | Bottom 27%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 63.0% | Top 6%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 65.4% | 19th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentJuly 2026 | 53,786 | Bottom 48%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)July 2026 | +1.3% | Top 27%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)July 2026 | +0.2% | Top 32%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceJuly 2026 | 56,404 | 48th percentileof 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 80.8% | Top 41%of 31,513 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wageHouston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $67,610 | Bottom 48%of 3,729 | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wageHouston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $49,410 | Bottom 36%of 3,729 | 2025 OEWS |
| Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.5% | 79th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026 | +0.4% | Bottom 24%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateJuly 2026 | 4.6% | Bottom 40%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 23.7% | 90th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Unemployment rate
Median household income, successive ACS releases
Largest occupations — Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 105,810 | $27,570 |
| General and Operations Managers | 97,320 | $119,600 |
| Retail Salespersons | 78,960 | $31,340 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 72,970 | $36,890 |
| Registered Nurses | 65,910 | $99,830 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 65,510 | $40,380 |
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.
69% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 70% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 16.7 students for every full-time teacher across 36 public schools, more than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen F Austin H S | FORT BEND ISD | 2,655 | 19.1 | 54% | 74% |
| Clements H S | FORT BEND ISD | 2,641 | 19.1 | 75% | 85% |
| Dulles H S | FORT BEND ISD | 2,165 | 17.7 | 49% | 67% |
| Kempner H S | FORT BEND ISD | 1,850 | 17.3 | 49% | 58% |
| Fort Settlement Middle | FORT BEND ISD | 1,504 | 19.8 | 91% | 81% |
| Harmony School of Excellence - Sugar Land · charter | HARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS - HOUSTON WEST | 1,471 | 16.0 | 79% | 70% |
| Macario Garcia Middle | FORT BEND ISD | 1,443 | 17.8 | 73% | 64% |
| Sartartia Middle | FORT BEND ISD | 1,365 | 18.2 | 84% | 78% |
| First Colony Middle | FORT BEND ISD | 1,270 | 19.0 | 70% | 66% |
| Dulles Middle | FORT BEND ISD | 1,254 | 16.1 | 61% | 54% |
| Anne McCormick Sullivan El | FORT BEND ISD | 1,053 | 17.3 | 86% | 82% |
| KIPP Journey Pri · charter | KIPP TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOLS | 1,052 | 24.5 | — | — |
41.1% 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.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →Prices for everything a household buys run at about the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 99.7, 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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, 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 $7,320 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.70% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $2,228, some 14% above the $1,957 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $2,228 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $89,100 a year, about 65% of the median household income here of $136,217.
The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,957 a month.
A median home at $430,200 costs 2.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $153,560, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
Prices here run at about the national average. Where places do differ, housing drives most of it — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.
Published for the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, 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.
The figures above are measured against Sugar Land’s median household income of $136,217, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of living indexthe Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area’s figure2023 | 99.7 | Top 43%of 3,700 | 2023 |
| Home price change (1 year)the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +3.4% | 54th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +32.7% | 21st percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +68.8% | 13th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year | 2.8 | Bottom 40%of 26,815 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 80.3% | 59th percentileof 31,717 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±7152024 ACS 5-Year | 39,946 | 99th percentileof 32,177 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $1,871 | Bottom 24%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $2,995 | Bottom 19%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $2,228 | Bottom 23%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$1022024 ACS 5-Year | $1,957 | Bottom 8%of 23,120 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$10,0012024 ACS 5-Year | $430,200 | 85th percentileof 29,111 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$1952024 ACS 5-Year | $7,320 | 97th percentileof 26,440 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$6,2592024 ACS 5-Year | $153,560 | Top 6%of 27,548 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.70% | 85th percentileof 20,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 30.9% | Bottom 37%of 22,950 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±242024 ACS 5-Year | 16 | 69th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.0% | 52nd percentileof 31,895 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 3.6% | 30th percentileof 31,769 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±4072024 ACS 5-Year | 1,461 | 97th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 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.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
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 1% since 2020, to 109,851 in 2024.
Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 420 units authorized in 2025, against 67 the year before.
92% of the 466 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.
Federal tax returns show Fort Bend County, which contains Sugar Land, gained about 1.4% 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 $81,110, below the $85,420 of households that moved out.
At 4.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Harris County, TX 29,268 people · 53% of arrivals
- Brazoria County, TX 1,931 people · 3.5% of arrivals
- Bexar County, TX 637 people · 1.1% of arrivals
- Montgomery County, TX 637 people · 1.1% of arrivals
- Los Angeles County, CA 624 people · 1.1% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Harris County, TX 21,458 people · 48% of departures
- Brazoria County, TX 2,889 people · 6.4% of departures
- Montgomery County, TX 1,315 people · 2.9% of departures
- Travis County, TX 824 people · 1.8% of departures
- Galveston County, TX 552 people · 1.2% 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 Fort Bend County, TX. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.
Housing units permitted per year
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.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 49.7" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 45°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 95°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 31°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 49% of it. Tornado is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.
Low or minimal exposure: lightning, tornado, heat wave, cold wave, strong wind, ice storm, wildfire, hail, earthquake, landslide, winter weather, coastal flooding, 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.
Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.
Sugar Land's police department reported 73 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,222.
Fort Bend County records 2.9 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.
Firearm deaths of all intents run at 8.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at 5.3 per 100,000 residents in Fort Bend County.
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 Sugar Land’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 Sugar Land (Fort Bend County) rather than Sugar Land 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 Sugar Land Rgnl at 2 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year | 97.5% | Top 14%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 2 mi | Top 2%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 4 | Bottom 38%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.1% | Top 15%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar Land Rgnl | SGR | 2 mi | 8,000 ft |
| Ellington | EFD | 29 mi | 9,001 ft |
| George Bush Intcntl/Houston | IAH | 32 mi | 12,001 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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Other cities in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
Same metropolitan area, measured the same way| City | County | Population | Area Score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | Harris County | 2,328,253 | 55 | Houston vs Sugar Land |
| Pasadena | Harris County | 149,433 | 48 | Pasadena vs Sugar Land |
| Pearland | Brazoria County | 127,514 | 62 | Pearland vs Sugar Land |
| The Woodlands | Montgomery County | 121,002 | 72 | |
| League City | Galveston County | 116,215 | 72 | |
| Conroe | Montgomery County | 102,360 | 65 | |
| Atascocita | Harris County | 99,354 | 60 | |
| Baytown | Harris County | 85,205 | 48 | |
| Missouri City | Fort Bend County | 76,558 | 57 | |
| Spring | Harris County | 68,580 | 53 | |
| Texas City | Galveston County | 55,364 | 62 | |
| Galveston | Galveston County | 53,424 | 55 |
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.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
Put Sugar Land side by side with a similar place.
Moving to Sugar Land from somewhere else?
You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Safety | Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency | 2025 calendar year |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Housing | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional price parities and county personal income | 2023 |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Safety | U.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 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA 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.