City · Bowie County, Texas

De Kalb, Texas

De Kalb is a city in Bowie County, Texas, part of the Texarkana, TX-AR metro area. It has 1,976 residents. De Kalb, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 6 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,668 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #850 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on home price to income ratio (low), child care cost burden (low) and social associations (high). It ranks worst on broadband subscriptions (low), distance to an airport (high) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (high).

6Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,668 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #850 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 1,976 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,443.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 4819648

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 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.

Safety19#12,579/15,637
Economy28#11,313/15,631
Housing57#6,444/14,977
Health16#13,081/15,609
Healthcare14#13,461/15,650
Environment10#13,905/15,453
Education30#10,997/15,649
Infrastructure2#15,299/15,650
Community11#13,974/15,651
Leisure & amenities23#12,038/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Home price to income ratio · low1.8×
94/100Texas 3.6×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Child care cost burden · low23.3%
83/100Texas 24.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBowie County value
Social associations · high12.8 /10k
81/100Texas 7.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBowie County value
Students per teacher · low12.2×
80/100Texas 15.0×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsBowie County value
Math scores · high3.19
72/100Texas 3.15United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBowie County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · low10 mi
71/100Texas 43 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauBowie County value

Weaknesses

Broadband subscriptions · low67.8%
1/100Texas 91.3%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Distance to an airport · high141 mi
3/100Texas 33 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauBowie County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · high9.9 µg/m³
3/100Texas 8.9 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyBowie County value
Suicide rate · high29.4 /100k
4/100Texas 14.4 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBowie County value
Primary care shortage · high18.0
5/100Texas 5.5United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationBowie County value
Dental care shortage · high18.0
6/100Texas 5.8United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationBowie County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,490 (2015-2019) → 1,976 (2020-2024)
+33%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
36.1% (2015-2019) → 20.4% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
53.8% (2015-2019) → 38.3% (2020-2024)
−15 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$33,421 (2015-2019) → $50,104 (2020-2024)
+50%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Unemployment rateImproving
9.8% (2015-2019) → 3.8% (2020-2024)
−6 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Income inequality (Gini index)Improving
0.554 (2015-2019) → 0.396 (2020-2024)
−28%5 yearsCensus table B19083US 0.482 → 0.483

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, De Kalb, Texas improved on 2 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 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

Inequality−0.1570.554 → 0.396
Household income+50%$33,421 → $50,104

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of De Kalb, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	28.6 min2015-2019	22.7 min2020-2024	−5.9 min	Within the margin of error	93%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.5%2015-2019	16.4%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Broadband subscriptions	63.2%2015-2019	67.8%2020-2024	+4.6 points	Within the margin of error	29%
Child poverty rate	36.1%2015-2019	20.4%2020-2024	−16 points	Within the margin of error	90%
Effective property tax rate	1.53%2015-2019	1.15%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	82%
High school diploma or higher	84.5%2015-2019	88.0%2020-2024	+3.5 points	Within the margin of error	73%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	1.8×2020-2024	−0.5×	Within the margin of error	93%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5542015-2019	0.3962020-2024	−0.157	Improved	99%
Median household income	$33,4212015-2019	$50,1042020-2024	+50%	Improved	84%
Poverty rate	23.3%2015-2019	18.8%2020-2024	−4.6 points	Within the margin of error	78%
Rent as share of income	31.1%2015-2019	25.7%2020-2024	−5.4 points	Within the margin of error	84%
Rent-burdened households	53.8%2015-2019	38.3%2020-2024	−15 points	Within the margin of error	90%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	19.7%2015-2019	16.0%2020-2024	−3.7 points	Within the margin of error	81%

“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 De Kalb, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of De Kalb, 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, De Kalb, Texas itself moved +22.4 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

1,976 residents (±412)

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

763 households (±132)

De Kalb, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k27%†203
$25k–50k23%†178
$50k–75k19%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

763 households (±132)

De Kalb, Texas
Texas share

Own45%341
Rent55%422

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−9.8 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

778 workers (±176)

De Kalb, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone82%639
Carpool9.5%†74
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 Texarkana, TX-AR

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 Bowie County, the county holding most of De Kalb's residents.

Bowie County has 2,273 employer establishments, 248 for every 10,000 residents (1.00× the US rate of 248; 1.14× Texas's), with 33,330 paid employees at an average annual pay of $46,273. The Census Bureau also counts 6,996 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,273; 6,996 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 248; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 33,330
Average annual pay: $46,273; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	223	24.3	1.17×About typical	3,069	$71,555	360
Restaurants and other eating places	191	20.8	1.13×About typical	4,945	$19,303	29
Specialty trade contractors	120	13.1	0.85×About typical	1,128	$59,848	529
Lessors of real estate	112	12.2	0.99×About typical	374	$42,059	579
Limited-service restaurants	109	11.9	1.48×More than typical	2,768	$18,219	15
Religious organizations	92	10	1.81×More than typical	655	$20,774	—
Offices of physicians	73	8	1.23×About typical	1,014	$103,085	74
Automotive repair and maintenance	65	7.1	1.41×More than typical	457	$44,407	153
Full-service restaurants	64	7	0.91×About typical	1,883	$20,045	12
Services to buildings and dwellings	59	6.4	0.95×About typical	417	$29,247	602
Building equipment contractors	54	5.9	0.98×About typical	558	$69,894	108
Banks and credit unions	53	5.8	1.79×More than typical	844	$56,910	7

Rank places for an industry Open Bowie County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 91,688 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Bowie 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.

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

House

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.

Bowie County19100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Texarkana, TX-AR6

Other cities and towns in Bowie 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
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
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/4819648

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends