City safety & data profile

Bay CityTX

Bay City, TX is a 18K-resident city in Matagorda County with a median household income of $53,840.

Matagorda County, Texas. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Bay City, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Bay City has a population larger than 37% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $160,800, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.

Data updated 2026-08-21

18K
Population (place)
Bottom 38%
By size
$53,840
Median income (place)
$160,800
Median home (place)
26%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on Bay City

Bay City posts a median household income higher than 14% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the Bay City area.

Bottom 15%
by median income, US cities
1
hospital in & near Bay City

Where Bay City income ranks nationally

Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)

$53,840 Bottom 14% higher than 14% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

Bay City $0 $260,000 every profiled place, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year

Largest cities in TX

Population among 244 TX places with 10,000+ residents and ACS income on Areazine. Tooltip shows the income rank in the same pool.

residents

What this shows Houston is the largest TX city on this list; Southlake leads median income.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

Highest median incomes in TX

Median household income among the same 244-city pool. Tooltip shows the population rank.

median

What this shows Southlake posts the highest place-level median income in TX; Houston is largest by headcount.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

The quick read

Reading Bay City, TX beyond the headline numbers

Bay City sits inside Matagorda County, Texas, at roughly 28.98°N, -95.97°W. Population 17,598, $53,840 median household income. Median home value $160,800, median rent $1,025. Poverty rate 26%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

1 hospital in/around Bay City, 5/5 avg rating, 1 with an ER.

26% of Bay City, TX residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.

Housing is inexpensive against local pay -- the median home in Bay City runs about 3.0 years of median household income, in the cheapest quarter of reporting cities.

Only 4.8% of Bay City workers report working from home, the lowest quarter of reporting cities -- an economy still built around showing up somewhere.

Among the CDC measures on this page, lack of health insurance departs furthest from its peer median: 25.2% in Bay City, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.

Public transit carries 0% of Bay City workers, a smaller share than at least three quarters of reporting cities.

Bay City's median age is 31.6 years, in the youngest quarter of reporting cities.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Bay City from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.

Population (place)
17,598
Bay City · Census Place
Median Income (place)
$53,840
-40% vs avg
Median Home Value (place)
$160,800
-61% vs avg
Median Age (place)
31.6
years · ACS place

10-Year Trends 2013–2024

County-level trend (Matagorda County): Bay City's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.

20132024
Population
36K-1%
Median Income
$58,628+36%
Median Home Value
$172,900+88%
Poverty Rate
20.7%-2%
Unemployment
8.7%+13%

Economics

Economics indicators for Bay City, TX
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$1,025/mo
Poverty Rate
26% +110% vs avg
Unemployment 13.3%
Bachelor's Degree+ 20.2%
Work From Home 4.8%
Public Transit 0%

Population

White 41.3%
African American 14.2%
Asian 1.7%

Health Profile 15 measures

Health Indicators

Short Sleep Duration
41.4%
Obesity
41%
High Blood Pressure
38.4%
Physical Inactivity
35.7%
Lack of Health Insurance
25.2%
Frequent Mental Distress
18.6%
Frequent Physical Distress
16.4%
Diabetes
16.3%
Current Smoking
16.2%
Binge Drinking
15.6%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 45.7%
Annual Checkup 73.9%

Other Measures

Current Asthma
10.3%
Coronary Heart Disease
7.3%
Stroke
4.3%

Hospitals 1 total

Rating Distribution
★★★★★
1
★★★★
0
★★★
0
★★
0
★
0
Average Rating
5/5
Total Hospitals
1
With ER
1
MATAGORDA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
BAY CITY · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★★★★

Alerts & News - Bay City Area

No area-tagged alerts are on record for Bay City right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.

Frequently Asked Questions 6

What is the population of Bay City, TX? ▼
Bay City, TX has a population of 17,598 people, located in Matagorda County, Texas.
What is the median household income in Bay City? ▼
The median household income in Bay City, TX is $53,840 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 26%.
What is the median home value in Bay City? ▼
The median home value in Bay City, TX is $160,800. Median rent is $1,025/month.
What are the top health concerns in Bay City? ▼
The top health indicators in Bay City include Short Sleep Duration (41.4%), Obesity (41%), High Blood Pressure (38.4%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in Bay City? ▼
Bay City has 1 hospital with an average rating of 5/5 stars. 1 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in Bay City? ▼
The median age in Bay City, TX is 31.6 years. 20.2% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Safety Context

Bay City, TX is located in Matagorda County, Texas. With a population of 18K and a $53,840 median household income, the community faces health challenges including short sleep duration and obesity. Residents have access to 1 hospital with an average rating of 5/5 stars. Safety alerts for the Bay City area are monitored from federal and state agencies including FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC.

Safety Guides

How Product Recalls Work

CPSC, FDA & NHTSA recall process explained

Understanding Weather Alerts

Watch vs warning vs advisory explained

Earthquake Magnitude Explained

What the numbers mean & when to act
All safety guides →

Primary source data

EPA Outdoor Air Quality Data

Federal monitoring network, every measurement we report

AirNow - Texas

Real-time AQI for every monitored Texas location

National Weather Service

NOAA active watches, warnings, advisories

CDC Air Quality & Health

Health-impact reference for every AQI category

EPA NAAQS standards

National Ambient Air Quality Standards, the regulatory thresholds

Nationwide cities with similar poverty or income 8

Two ACS-derived peer sets for Bay City, both outside Texas so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside TX (26% here).

Buffalo, NY 26% Roswell, NM 26% Morristown, TN 26% Champaign, IL 25.9%

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside TX ($53,840 here).

Mount Vernon, OH $53,845 Madisonville, KY $53,860 Ardmore, OK $53,900 Roseburg, OR $53,918

Nearby Cities 8

El Campo, TX 12K Lake Jackson, TX 28K Angleton, TX 19K Clute, TX 11K Rosenberg, TX 36K Freeport, TX 12K Richmond, TX 12K Greatwood, TX 12K
All cities in Texas → Compare Bay City vs El Campo → All comparisons → Browse all cities

Using Bay City's profile

Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.

  • Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Bay City area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
  • Read the poverty rate alongside the income figure, two places with the same median can have very different realities.
  • Compare Bay City against Texas peers on any ranking lens. Explore Texas

Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.

Data Sources

All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Matagorda County) where that is the smallest published unit.

Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.