City · Brazoria County, Texas

Lake Jackson, Texas

Lake Jackson is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, part of the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area. It has 27,974 residents. Lake Jackson, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 34 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,258 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #266 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on child care cost burden (low), comfortable days (high) and math scores (high). It ranks worst on grocery stores (low), hot days (high) and uninsured residents (under 65) (high).

34Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,258 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #266 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 27,974 (2020-2024)
Land area: 20 mi²
Density: 1,416.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 4840588

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.

Safety62#5,915/15,637
Economy60#6,252/15,631
Housing46#8,121/14,977
Health53#7,359/15,609
Healthcare32#10,576/15,650
Environment10#13,842/15,453
Education50#7,848/15,649
Infrastructure67#5,177/15,650
Community17#13,004/15,651
Leisure & amenities9#14,261/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Child care cost burden · low20.8%
93/100Texas 24.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBrazoria County value
Comfortable days · high33.6%
92/100Texas 30.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBrazoria County value
Math scores · high3.38
89/100Texas 3.15United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBrazoria County value
Median Air Quality Index · low35
86/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyBrazoria County value
Dental care shortage · low0.0
84/100Texas 5.8United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationBrazoria County value
Injury deaths · low65 /100k
84/100Texas 69 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBrazoria County value

Weaknesses

Grocery stores · low0.8 /10k
6/100Texas 1.1 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBrazoria County value
Hot days · high95 days
11/100Texas 111 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBrazoria County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high16.3%
12/100Texas 19.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
High ozone days · high7 days
12/100Texas 7 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyBrazoria County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low2.2 /10k
13/100Texas 3.4 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBrazoria County value
Public EV charging ports · low1.3 /10k
14/100Texas 4.0 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyBrazoria County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedWorsening
0.7 /1k (2021) → 0.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−71%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
37.1% (2015-2019) → 45.6% (2020-2024)
+8.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
35.2% (2015-2019) → 27.8% (2020-2024)
−7.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
88.6% (2015-2019) → 94.3% (2020-2024)
+5.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
10.7% (2015-2019) → 16.4% (2020-2024)
+5.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.2× (2015-2019) → 2.8× (2020-2024)
+22%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

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, Lake Jackson, Texas improved on 0 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 3. 11 moved within the margin of error and 1 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined3

Bachelor's+−7.4 points35.2% → 27.8%
Unemployment+3.7 points4.3% → 8.0%
Price / income+0.5×2.2× → 2.8×

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Lake Jackson, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	20.4 min2015-2019	20.7 min2020-2024	+0.4 min	Within the margin of error	43%
Bachelor's degree or higher	35.2%2015-2019	27.8%2020-2024	−7.4 points	Declined	4%
Broadband subscriptions	88.6%2015-2019	94.3%2020-2024	+5.7 points	Within the margin of error	36%
Child poverty rate	10.7%2015-2019	16.4%2020-2024	+5.7 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Effective property tax rate	1.73%2015-2019	1.41%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Little change	77%
High school diploma or higher	94.0%2015-2019	92.6%2020-2024	−1.4 points	Within the margin of error	20%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	2.8×2020-2024	+0.5×	Declined	48%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4082015-2019	0.4032020-2024	−0.005	Within the margin of error	55%
Median household income	$82,4652015-2019	$90,9382020-2024	+10%	Within the margin of error	17%
Poverty rate	8.5%2015-2019	11.7%2020-2024	+3.2 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	24.6%2015-2019	28.0%2020-2024	+3.4 points	Within the margin of error	31%
Rent-burdened households	37.1%2015-2019	45.6%2020-2024	+8.6 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Unemployment rate	4.3%2015-2019	8.0%2020-2024	+3.7 points	Declined	7%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	16.1%2015-2019	16.3%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	44%

“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 Lake Jackson, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Lake Jackson, 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, Lake Jackson, Texas itself moved −9.2 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

27,974 residents (±32)

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

10,725 households (±534)

Lake Jackson, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k12%1,314
$25k–50k13%1,391
$50k–75k15%1,605

Homes

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

Owners and renters

10,725 households (±534)

Lake Jackson, Texas
Texas share

Own62%6,615
Rent38%4,110

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

13,073 workers (±776)

Lake Jackson, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone86%11,234
Carpool6.3%†830
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 Brazoria County, the county holding most of Lake Jackson's residents.

Brazoria County has 6,650 employer establishments, 166 for every 10,000 residents (0.67× the US rate of 248; 0.76× Texas's), with 98,916 paid employees at an average annual pay of $59,629. The Census Bureau also counts 42,156 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 6,650; 42,156 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 166; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 98,916
Average annual pay: $59,629; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	740	18.5	0.89×About typical	5,824	$56,888	2,195
Restaurants and other eating places	644	16.1	0.88×About typical	14,120	$19,424	270
Specialty trade contractors	356	8.9	0.57×Fewer than typical	8,467	$61,332	3,678
Lessors of real estate	273	6.8	0.55×Fewer than typical	780	$42,023	2,937
Limited-service restaurants	269	6.7	0.84×About typical	6,931	$17,497	77
Full-service restaurants	254	6.3	0.83×About typical	6,065	$21,870	129
Offices of physicians	247	6.2	0.95×About typical	1,303	$89,832	351
Building equipment contractors	193	4.8	0.80×About typical	1,938	$60,348	739
Religious organizations	182	4.5	0.82×About typical	1,410	$23,319	—
Offices of other health practitioners	171	4.3	0.70×Fewer than typical	855	$47,522	778
Offices of dentists	156	3.9	0.97×About typical	1,072	$52,162	119
Truck transportation	155	3.9	0.77×Fewer than typical	1,195	$72,349	1,463

Rank places for an industry Open Brazoria County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 400,433 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 $117.2K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Lake Jackson, Texas: $4.19 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $117.2K; +123% vs FY2025
Per resident: $4.19; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.3%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

U.S. Coast Guard$48.8K42%
Department of Veterans Affairs$39.3K34%
Federal Aviation Administration$27.9K24%
Social Security Administration$7170.6%
National Park Service$2970.3%
Department of the Navy$1370.1%

Top recipients

STILTEN, LTD. CO.$48.8K42%
NINETY FIVE SOUTH, INC$39.1K33%
GREATER SOUTHWEST CONSTRUCTORS INC$27.9K24%
IRSA UMAR$5680.5%
ASIMER TECH LLC$4580.4%
FELDER WATER WELL & PUMP SERVICE, LLC

Spending by fiscal year

-4MFY2017
260KFY2018
151.5KFY2019
148.4KFY2020
73.5KFY2021
111.9KFY2022
90.6KFY2023
40KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Ship and boat building · 3366$48.8K42%
Facilities support services · 5612$39.1K33%
Utility system construction · 2371$28.2K24%
Computer systems design and related services · 5415$7170.6%
Advertising, public relations, and related services · 5418$1800.2%
Software publishers · 5132

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Lake Jackson, Texas

JANITORIAL SERVICES - LAKE JACKSON VA OUTPATIENT CLINIC$187.2K
NINETY FIVE SOUTH, INC· Brazoria County, TX· Facilities & utilities· Feb 20, 2024 – Jun 2, 2026· 36C25624P0542
EMC ON SSDG$77.9K
STILTEN, LTD. CO.· Brazoria County, TX· Equipment maintenance· Jul 1, 2026 – Jul 1, 2026· 70Z08526PLREP0206

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 Lake Jackson, Texas, so they do not add up across cities.

Lake Jackson, Texas's figures are part of those of Brazoria County, TX ($80.5M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.1% of that total.

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

See federal money in Brazoria 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.

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

House

Senate

Ted CruzR-

County

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

Brazoria County57100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX34

Other cities and towns in Brazoria 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/4840588

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends