76798 — Waco, Texas
Area Profile
Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 76798.
Missing required signal: opportunity. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.
Residential permitting has slowed: 1,073 units authorized over the past twelve months, 17% below the prior year.
Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published ZIP profiles, placing 76798 in the top 10% for physical resilience.
A major airport is 7 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 4.9% is lower than 31% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.
Employment grew 0.2% over the past year, to 68,564 employed residents.
100% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 100% of measured US ZIP areas.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per capita income ±$1,177 | $4,013 | Bottom 1% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 13.1 min | Bottom 3% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 100.0% | Top 1% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 68,564 | Top 43% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years) | 3.1% | Top 14% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year) | 0.2% | Top 26% | June 2026 |
| Labor force | 72,064 | Top 43% | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 20.5% | Bottom 2% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $58,190 | Bottom 13% | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $46,020 | Bottom 12% | 2025 OEWS |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | 0.6% | Top 23% | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.9% | Top 31% | June 2026 |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 5,100 | $27,750 |
| General and Operations Managers | 3,690 | $92,990 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 3,540 | $37,500 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 3,260 | $38,810 |
| Retail Salespersons | 3,140 | $29,810 |
| Registered Nurses | 2,570 | $92,890 |
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 Waco, TX, the city containing this ZIP code.
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 7.5 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 Waco, TX, the city containing this ZIP code.
Weather & climate
6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 97°F and January a low of 36°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 36.4 inches.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 36.4" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Annual snowfall | 0.7" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 36°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 97°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 6 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 38°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 hurricane, wildfire and winter weather.
Low or minimal exposure: tornado, lightning, cold wave, heat wave, hail, inland flooding, ice storm, strong wind, earthquake, drought, 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.
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.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tstc Waco | CNW | 7 mi | 8,600 ft |
| Dallas Love Fld | DAL | 91 mi | 8,800 ft |
| Dallas-Fort Worth Intl | DFW | 93 mi | 13,401 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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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) |
Profile recalculated August 29, 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.
76798 vs Waco
How this ZIP area compares with Waco 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.