Census-designated place · Aransas County, Texas

Lamar, Texas

Lamar is a census-designated place in Aransas County, Texas, part of the Corpus Christi, TX metro area. It has 1,202 residents. Lamar, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 24 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,920 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #431 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on high school diploma or higher (high), comfortable days (high) and restaurants and bars (high). It ranks worst on social associations (low), food environment index (low) and distance to an emergency room (high).

24Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,920 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #431 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 1,202 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 392.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 4841092

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 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.

Safety25#11,793/15,637
Economy69#4,867/15,631
Housing—
Health41#9,149/15,609
Healthcare14#13,516/15,650
Environment17#12,794/15,453
Education48#8,212/15,649
Infrastructure33#10,451/15,650
Community4#15,036/15,651
Leisure & amenities72#4,412/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

High school diploma or higher · high99.2%
100/100Texas 86.0%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Comfortable days · high37.2%
96/100Texas 30.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationAransas County value
Restaurants and bars · high14.1 /10k
94/100Texas 7.8 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAransas County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.335
91/100Texas 0.478United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Child care cost burden · low22.0%
88/100Texas 24.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAransas County value
Preventable hospital stays · low2,020 /100k
84/100Texas 2,991 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAransas County value

Weaknesses

Social associations · low3.5 /10k
2/100Texas 7.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAransas County value
Food environment index · low5.7
3/100Texas 5.7United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAransas County value
Distance to an emergency room · high20.5 mi
3/100Texas 5.5 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesAransas County value
Distance to an airport · high129 mi
4/100Texas 33 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauAransas County value
Math scores · low2.52
5/100Texas 3.15United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAransas County value
Injury deaths · high141 /100k
5/100Texas 69 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAransas County value

Trends

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

Child poverty rateImproving
100.0% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−100 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
100.0% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−100 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$34,888 (2015-2019) → $86,851 (2020-2024)
+149%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Poverty rateImproving
33.1% (2015-2019) → 4.8% (2020-2024)
−28 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
21.9% (2015-2019) → 43.2% (2020-2024)
+21 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.7% (2015-2019) → 90.4% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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, Lamar, Texas improved on 4 of 8 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 4 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.

Improved4

Price / income−4.0×7.6× → 3.7×
Household income+149%$34,888 → $86,851
Bachelor's++21 points21.9% → 43.2%
Inequality−0.1370.472 → 0.335

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 8 measures

Change of every measure of Lamar, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.9%2015-2019	43.2%2020-2024	+21 points	Improved	99%
Broadband subscriptions	78.7%2015-2019	90.4%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Effective property tax rate	1.25%2015-2019	0.99%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	69%
High school diploma or higher	91.5%2015-2019	99.2%2020-2024	+7.6 points	Within the margin of error	91%
Home price to income ratio	7.6×2015-2019	3.7×2020-2024	−4.0×	Improved	100%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4722015-2019	0.3352020-2024	−0.137	Improved	98%
Median household income	$34,8882015-2019	$86,8512020-2024	+149%	Improved	100%
Rent-burdened households	100.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	−100 points	Within the margin of error	100%

“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 Lamar, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Lamar, 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, Lamar, Texas itself moved +43.7 points in standing on average over the same 8 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

1,202 residents (±315)

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

628 households (±168)

Lamar, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k6.8%†43
$25k–50k8.9%†56
$50k–75k18%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

628 households (±168)

Lamar, Texas
Texas share

Own96%603
Rent4.0%†25

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+19.6 points).

† 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

475 workers (±180)

Lamar, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone55%†259
Carpool4.2%†20
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 Corpus Christi, 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 Aransas County, the county holding most of Lamar's residents.

Aransas County has 610 employer establishments, 241 for every 10,000 residents (0.97× the US rate of 248; 1.10× Texas's), with 4,500 paid employees at an average annual pay of $40,456. The Census Bureau also counts 3,019 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 610; 3,019 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 241; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 4,500
Average annual pay: $40,456; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	59	23.3	1.27×More than typical	1,003	$22,300	34
Specialty trade contractors	45	17.7	1.15×About typical	157	$45,618	366
Ambulatory health care services	36	14.2	0.68×Fewer than typical	259	$61,185	60
Full-service restaurants	35	13.8	1.80×More than typical	623	$23,745	25
Lessors of real estate	34	13.4	1.09×About typical	99	$45,939	308
Construction of buildings	24	9.5	1.25×More than typical	138	$56,993	192
Building equipment contractors	23	9.1	1.51×More than typical	86	$43,640	64
Services to buildings and dwellings	20	7.9	1.17×About typical	111	$34,640	341
Traveler accommodation	20	7.9	4.37×More than typical	197	$19,543	24
Limited-service restaurants	17	6.7	0.84×About typical	348	$20,253	4
RV parks and recreational camps	15	5.9	24.9×More than typical	71	$33,211	19
Management, scientific and technical consulting	14	5.5	0.82×About typical	37	$46,135	117

Rank places for an industry Open Aransas County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 25,360 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 Lamar, Texas: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0; −100% vs FY2025
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

AOS SERVICES INC$00.0%

Spending by fiscal year

1.6KFY2017
15.4KFY2018
5.6KFY2019
386.9FY2020
2.6KFY2021
2.7KFY2022
7.5KFY2023
3.5KFY2024
3.7K

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 Lamar, Texas, so they do not add up across cities.

Lamar, Texas's figures are part of those of Aransas County, TX ($316.7K 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: Lamar is mostly in Aransas County.

See federal money in Aransas 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.

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

House

Michael CloudR-TX-27 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 1.5%

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.

Aransas County22100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Corpus Christi, TX13

Other cities and towns in Aransas 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/4841092

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends