Census-designated place · Galveston County, Texas

Bacliff, Texas

Bacliff is a census-designated place in Galveston County, Texas, part of the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area. It has 9,541 residents. Bacliff, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 8 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,474 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #809 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on comfortable days (high), dental care shortage (low) and child care cost burden (low). It ranks worst on uninsured residents (under 65) (high), high school diploma or higher (low) and poor or fair health (high).

8Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,474 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #809 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 9,541 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 3,754.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 4805180

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety31#10,711/15,637
Economy17#12,944/15,631
Housing18#12,294/14,977
Health24#11,935/15,609
Healthcare26#11,613/15,650
Environment11#13,804/15,453
Education27#11,426/15,649
Infrastructure25#11,799/15,650
Community13#13,557/15,651
Leisure & amenities34#10,361/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Bacliff, Texas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Galveston County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Comfortable days · high34.4%
94/100Texas 30.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationGalveston County value
Dental care shortage · low0.0
84/100Texas 5.8United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationGalveston County value
Child care cost burden · low23.3%
83/100Texas 24.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGalveston County value
Primary care shortage · low0.2
79/100Texas 5.5United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationGalveston County value
Math scores · high3.21
74/100Texas 3.15United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGalveston County value
Job growth · high0.6%
70/100Texas 0.6%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataGalveston County value

Weaknesses

Uninsured residents (under 65) · high30.9%
1/100Texas 19.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
High school diploma or higher · low79.8%
6/100Texas 86.0%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Poor or fair health · high29.5%
7/100Texas 23.2%United States 19.9%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Poverty rate · high28.9%
7/100Texas 13.4%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Lack of reliable transportation · high15.4%
8/100Texas 10.5%United States 8.3%2022Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Food insecurity · high30.3%
8/100Texas 19.4%United States 15.6%2022Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
10,856 (2015-2019) → 9,541 (2020-2024)
−12%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
36.1% (2015-2019) → 63.8% (2020-2024)
+28 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
25.6% (2015-2019) → 49.5% (2020-2024)
+24 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.8× (2015-2019) → 3.9× (2020-2024)
+41%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
13.0% (2015-2019) → 20.6% (2020-2024)
+7.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Poverty rateWorsening
21.8% (2015-2019) → 28.9% (2020-2024)
+7.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Bacliff, Texas improved on 1 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 13 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Bachelor's++7.5 points13.0% → 20.6%

Declined1

Rent burden+28 points36.1% → 63.8%

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Bacliff, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	29.1 min2015-2019	29.3 min2020-2024	+0.2 min	Within the margin of error	45%
Bachelor's degree or higher	13.0%2015-2019	20.6%2020-2024	+7.5 points	Improved	82%
Broadband subscriptions	86.9%2015-2019	92.2%2020-2024	+5.3 points	Within the margin of error	33%
Child poverty rate	40.8%2015-2019	44.6%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Within the margin of error	24%
Effective property tax rate	1.70%2015-2019	1.36%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	79%
High school diploma or higher	77.6%2015-2019	79.8%2020-2024	+2.2 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Home price to income ratio	2.8×2015-2019	3.9×2020-2024	+1.1×	Within the margin of error	18%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4412015-2019	0.4642020-2024	+0.023	Within the margin of error	32%
Median household income	$46,0632015-2019	$51,4582020-2024	+12%	Within the margin of error	19%
Poverty rate	21.8%2015-2019	28.9%2020-2024	+7.1 points	Within the margin of error	8%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	25.6%2015-2019	49.5%2020-2024	+24 points	Within the margin of error	1%
Rent-burdened households	36.1%2015-2019	63.8%2020-2024	+28 points	Declined	4%
Unemployment rate	6.6%2015-2019	7.4%2020-2024	+0.8 points	Within the margin of error	32%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	28.4%2015-2019	30.9%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Within the margin of error	22%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Bacliff, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Bacliff, Texas in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Bacliff, Texas itself moved −17.3 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

9,541 residents (±1,178)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

3,650 households (±379)

Bacliff, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k22%†797
$25k–50k27%979
$50k–75k13%†462

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

3,650 households (±379)

Bacliff, Texas
Texas share

Own62%2,255
Rent38%1,395

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

4,449 workers (±499)

Bacliff, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone77%3,443
Carpool11%†491
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Galveston County, the county holding most of Bacliff's residents.

Galveston County has 6,597 employer establishments, 182 for every 10,000 residents (0.73× the US rate of 248; 0.83× Texas's), with 95,225 paid employees at an average annual pay of $52,817. The Census Bureau also counts 35,535 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 6,597; 35,535 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 182; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 95,225
Average annual pay: $52,817; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Galveston County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	670	18.5	1.01×About typical	15,455	$20,827	213
Ambulatory health care services	543	15	0.72×Fewer than typical	4,407	$55,109	1,710
Lessors of real estate	347	9.6	0.78×Fewer than typical	1,219	$49,264	2,997
Specialty trade contractors	330	9.1	0.59×Fewer than typical	4,659	$73,152	2,473
Full-service restaurants	293	8.1	1.05×About typical	8,129	$22,674	84
Limited-service restaurants	278	7.7	0.96×About typical	6,399	$18,675	87
Offices of physicians	189	5.2	0.81×About typical	955	$80,223	348
Construction of buildings	178	4.9	0.65×Fewer than typical	971	$69,187	1,204
Services to buildings and dwellings	166	4.6	0.68×Fewer than typical	1,411	$41,208	2,760
Management, scientific and technical consulting	162	4.5	0.67×Fewer than typical	694	$69,406	1,349
Religious organizations	160	4.4	0.80×Fewer than typical	1,651	$26,609	—
Building equipment contractors	156	4.3	0.72×Fewer than typical	2,735	$72,683	561

Rank places for an industry Open Galveston County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 362,263 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Bacliff, Texas: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

38.4KFY2021
-31.7KFY2022

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Bacliff, Texas, so they do not add up across cities.

Bacliff, Texas's figures are part of those of Galveston County, TX ($3.7B in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Bacliff is mostly in Galveston County.

See federal money in Galveston County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Bacliff, Texas is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Randy K. Weber, Sr.R-TX-14 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 2.2%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Galveston County48100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX34

Other cities and towns in Galveston County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/4805180

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends