Census-designated place · Harris County, Texas

Barrett, Texas

Barrett is a census-designated place in Harris County, Texas, part of the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area. It has 3,273 residents. Barrett, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 11 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,904 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #719 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent-burdened households (low), average weekly wage (high) and new business applications (high). It ranks worst on public libraries (low), property crime rate (high) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (high).

11Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,904 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #719 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 3,273 (2020-2024)
Land area: 6 mi²
Density: 512.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 4805696

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 77 of 83 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.

Safety9#14,162/15,637
Economy21#12,313/15,631
Housing69#4,589/14,977
Health47#8,319/15,609
Healthcare38#9,682/15,650
Environment1#15,300/15,453
Education11#13,961/15,650
Infrastructure23#11,985/15,650
Community8#14,316/15,651
Leisure & amenities30#10,881/15,651
Nature & outdoors—

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Barrett, Texas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Harris 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

Rent-burdened households · low11.0%
100/100Texas 51.7%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070High uncertainty
Average weekly wage · high$1,759
95/100Texas $1,499United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHarris County value
New business applications · high19.8 /1k
89/100Texas 17.2 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauHarris County value
Depression · low19.2%
85/100Texas 21.2%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Distance to an emergency room · low3.8 mi
83/100Texas 5.5 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesHarris County value
Comfortable days · high31.0%
83/100Texas 30.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationHarris County value

Weaknesses

Public libraries · low0.2 /10k
2/100Texas 0.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesHarris County value
Property crime rate · high2,910 /100k
2/100Texas 1,786 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationHarris County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · high10.1 µg/m³
3/100Texas 8.9 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyHarris County value
Violent crime rate · high630 /100k
4/100Texas 345 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationHarris County value
Days with unhealthy air · high10.4%
4/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyHarris County value
Median Air Quality Index · high62
5/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyHarris County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
3,807 (2015-2019) → 3,273 (2020-2024)
−14%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.1× (2015-2019) → 3.9× (2020-2024)
+250%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
41.1% (2015-2019) → 11.0% (2020-2024)
−30 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Households subscribed to broadbandImproving
56.7% (2015-2019) → 80.6% (2020-2024)
+24 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
42.0% (2015-2019) → 62.6% (2020-2024)
+21 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
35.4% (2015-2019) → 19.4% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

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, Barrett, Texas improved on 2 of 8 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 5 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.

Improved2

Uninsured−16 points35.4% → 19.4%
Broadband subscribers+24 points56.7% → 80.6%

Declined1

Inequality+0.1130.378 → 0.491

All 8 measures

Change of every measure of Barrett, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	34.6 min2015-2019	31.3 min2020-2024	−3.3 min	Within the margin of error	81%
Child poverty rate	42.0%2015-2019	62.6%2020-2024	+21 points	Within the margin of error	4%
Effective property tax rate	1.74%2015-2019	1.83%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	7%
High school diploma or higher	69.6%2015-2019	82.1%2020-2024	+13 points	Within the margin of error	98%
Households subscribed to broadband	56.7%2015-2019	80.6%2020-2024	+24 points	Improved	94%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3782015-2019	0.4912020-2024	+0.113	Declined	3%
Poverty rate	24.7%2015-2019	34.0%2020-2024	+9.3 points	Within the margin of error	5%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	35.4%2015-2019	19.4%2020-2024	−16 points	Improved	99%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 10944 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 Barrett, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Barrett, 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.

No place that looked like Barrett, Texas five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

For comparison, Barrett, Texas itself moved −10.8 points in standing on average over the same 5 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

3,273 residents (±965)

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

1,134 households (±267)

Barrett, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k34%†390
$25k–50k17%†192
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,134 households (±267)

Barrett, Texas
Texas share

Own83%944
Rent17%†190

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

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,287 workers (±464)

Barrett, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone72%†926
Carpool27%†352
Public transit

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 Harris County, the county holding most of Barrett's residents.

Harris County has 111,215 employer establishments, 227 for every 10,000 residents (0.91× the US rate of 248; 1.04× Texas's), with 2,182,164 paid employees at an average annual pay of $80,572. The Census Bureau also counts 605,074 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 111,215; 605,074 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 227; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 2,182,164
Average annual pay: $80,572; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	10,905	22.3	1.07×About typical	129,335	$64,823	25,136
Restaurants and other eating places	8,852	18.1	0.98×About typical	195,911	$23,182	4,368
Lessors of real estate	5,455	11.1	0.90×About typical	31,717	$83,945	41,015
Specialty trade contractors	4,728	9.7	0.62×Fewer than typical	93,890	$72,159	48,336
Offices of physicians	4,110	8.4	1.30×More than typical	41,464	$112,403	4,277
Limited-service restaurants	3,958	8.1	1.01×About typical	87,661	$19,853	1,311
Management, scientific and technical consulting	3,649	7.5	1.11×About typical	30,505	$125,328	18,617
Full-service restaurants	3,574	7.3	0.95×About typical	92,715	$26,713	2,033
Legal services	3,363	6.9	1.28×More than typical	26,255	$142,429	5,608
Construction of buildings	2,395	4.9	0.65×Fewer than typical	27,129	$95,725	22,613
Architectural, engineering and related services	2,369	4.8	1.39×More than typical	65,882	$123,074	4,792
Offices of dentists	2,302	4.7	1.17×About typical	14,168	$53,907	1,426

Public schools

Public schools located in Barrett, Texas and the districts that run them (NCES Common Core of Data). Students per teacher counts full-time-equivalent teachers, not the size of each class.

Barrett, Texas has 2 public schools with 1,242 students and 15.6 students per teacher (Texas: 14.9, US: 15.2).

Elementary schools: 2
Middle schools: 0
High schools: 0
Students per teacher: 15.6; US: 15.2

School districts

Districts with schools here, by students here.

District	Schools	Students	Spending / student
Crosby ISD	2	1,242	$10,378

Largest schools

School	Grades	Students	Students / teacher	District
Barrett El	K–5	640	16.4	Crosby ISD
Drew El	K–5	602	14.9	Crosby ISD

All 2 schools

Sources

Public schools and school districts (National Center for Education Statistics · U.S. Census Bureau), 2024–25 school year. NCES Common Core of Data and EDGE public school geocodes; U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances and cartographic boundary files (places).

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $1,477 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Barrett, Texas: $0.45 per resident (US $2,152).

Obligations: $1,477
Per resident: $0.45; US $2,152
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 31%
Single offer: 100%; US 8.9%

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

Top buying agencies

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services$1,477100%

Top recipients

LUNARSCRIPTS, LLC$1,477100%

Spending by fiscal year

33.3FY2017
196.1FY2019
1.7KFY2020
-472.7FY2021
1.5KFY2026

What was bought

Professional services$1,477100%

Top industries (NAICS)

Management, scientific, and technical consulting services · 5416$1,477100%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 15, 2026, loaded Oct 15, 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 Barrett, Texas, so they do not add up across cities.

Barrett, Texas's figures are part of those of Harris County, TX ($4.9B 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: Barrett is mostly in Harris County.

See federal money in Harris 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.

Barrett, Texas is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

County

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

Harris County35100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX36

Other cities and towns in Harris 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
National Broadband Map (Broadband Data Collection)Federal Communications Commission · release 2025-12-31
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/4805696

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends