Census-designated place · San Patricio County, Texas

Taft Southwest, Texas

Taft Southwest is a census-designated place in San Patricio County, Texas, part of the Corpus Christi, TX metro area. It has 1,635 residents. Taft Southwest, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 7 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,615 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #839 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on effective property tax rate (low), home price to income ratio (low) and comfortable days (high). It ranks worst on bachelor's degree or higher (low), physical inactivity (high) and poor or fair health (high).

7Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,615 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #839 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 1,635 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 3,160.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 4871696

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 70 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.

Safety36#9,953/15,637
Economy28#11,319/15,631
Housing86#2,076/14,977
Health18#12,811/15,609
Healthcare3#15,152/15,650
Environment12#13,596/15,453
Education10#14,084/15,649
Infrastructure2#15,316/15,650
Community7#14,491/15,651
Leisure & amenities8#14,419/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Taft Southwest, Texas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “San Patricio 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

Effective property tax rate · low0.37%
95/100Texas 1.40%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090High uncertainty
Home price to income ratio · low1.7×
92/100Texas 3.6×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077High uncertainty
Comfortable days · high33.0%
90/100Texas 30.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationSan Patricio County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.326
89/100Texas 0.478United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Depression · low18.9%
86/100Texas 21.2%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
High ozone days · low0 days
76/100Texas 7 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencySan Patricio County value

Weaknesses

Bachelor's degree or higher · low1.0%
0/100Texas 33.8%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003High uncertainty
Physical inactivity · high44.1%
1/100Texas 29.6%United States 26.5%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Poor or fair health · high36.0%
2/100Texas 23.2%United States 19.9%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Food insecurity · high40.1%
2/100Texas 19.4%United States 15.6%2022Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Lack of reliable transportation · high18.9%
3/100Texas 10.5%United States 8.3%2022Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
High school diploma or higher · low55.8%
3/100Texas 86.0%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003

Trends

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

PopulationRising
982 (2015-2019) → 1,635 (2020-2024)
+66%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Median household incomeImproving
$14,659 (2015-2019) → $55,938 (2020-2024)
+282%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
36.8% (2015-2019) → 68.2% (2020-2024)
+31 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Poverty rateImproving
35.3% (2015-2019) → 10.6% (2020-2024)
−25 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
44.5% (2015-2019) → 23.8% (2020-2024)
−21 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Home price to income ratioImproving
2.9× (2015-2019) → 1.7× (2020-2024)
−43%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, Taft Southwest, Texas improved on 4 of 7 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 3 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

Uninsured−21 points44.5% → 23.8%
Poverty−25 points35.3% → 10.6%
Inequality−0.1930.519 → 0.326
Broadband+31 points36.8% → 68.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 7 measures

Change of every measure of Taft Southwest, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Broadband subscriptions	36.8%2015-2019	68.2%2020-2024	+31 points	Improved	98%
High school diploma or higher	55.1%2015-2019	55.8%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5192015-2019	0.3262020-2024	−0.193	Improved	100%
Poverty rate	35.3%2015-2019	10.6%2020-2024	−25 points	Improved	100%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent-burdened households	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	56%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	44.5%2015-2019	23.8%2020-2024	−21 points	Improved	100%

“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 Taft Southwest, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Taft Southwest, 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 Taft Southwest, Texas five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

For comparison, Taft Southwest, Texas itself moved +22.2 points in standing on average over the same 4 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

1,635 residents (±764)

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

506 households (±152)

Taft Southwest, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k27%†135
$25k–50k20%†99
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

506 households (±152)

Taft Southwest, Texas
Texas share

Own68%†342
Rent32%†164

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

403 workers (±193)

Taft Southwest, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone71%†287
Carpool11%†45
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 San Patricio County, the county holding most of Taft Southwest's residents.

San Patricio County has 1,131 employer establishments, 160 for every 10,000 residents (0.64× the US rate of 248; 0.73× Texas's), with 17,655 paid employees at an average annual pay of $59,767. The Census Bureau also counts 6,318 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,131; 6,318 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 160; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 17,655
Average annual pay: $59,767; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	139	19.6	1.07×About typical	2,314	$19,847	52
Ambulatory health care services	80	11.3	0.54×Fewer than typical	633	$51,720	236
Limited-service restaurants	69	9.8	1.22×About typical	1,329	$18,645	18
Specialty trade contractors	57	8.1	0.52×Fewer than typical	1,147	$57,478	737
Full-service restaurants	55	7.8	1.01×About typical	866	$21,699	26
Lessors of real estate	42	5.9	0.48×Fewer than typical	115	$40,626	383
Religious organizations	37	5.2	0.94×About typical	146	$15,637	—
Gasoline stations	36	5.1	1.57×More than typical	284	$28,482	5
Traveler accommodation	33	4.7	2.58×More than typical	391	$16,542	16
Construction of buildings	32	4.5	0.60×Fewer than typical	151	$61,477	328
Building equipment contractors	31	4.4	0.73×Fewer than typical	493	$71,568	148
Insurance agencies and brokerages	28	4	0.90×About typical	98	$43,541	90

Rank places for an industry Open San Patricio County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 70,761 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: Taft Southwest is mostly in San Patricio County.

See federal money in San Patricio 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.

Taft Southwest, 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.

San Patricio County11100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Corpus Christi, TX13

Other cities and towns in San Patricio 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/4871696

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends