CitytisticsShortlist

Cost of living, pay and housing

27.67° N · 98.10° W · GEOID 4807540

Ben Bolt

Jim Wells County, Texas · part of the Alice, TX metro

Limited data population under 5,000, core figures borrowed from county or metro: median_home_value

TexasBen Bolt, TXBen BoltBen Bolt

The short answer

Ben Bolt is home to 2,152 people. Median household income is $61,741 a year and median rent is $873 a month, 17.0% of income (a ratio of two medians, not any one household's burden). Rent pressure is lighter than in most places. The median home is valued at $123,600, about 2.0x annual median household income.

Median gross rent
$873
36% below the median place
Median household income
$61,741
23% below the median place
Median home value
$123,600
61% below the median place
Unemployment
6.1%
25% above the median place

Compared with the median of the 6,645 places we track. The bundle was checked 2026-11-14; each measure may refer to an older release.

What stands out about Ben Bolt

  • Between the 2020 and 2024 surveys, household income rose 3.3% a year while rent rose -4.9%, so pay gained on rent more than in 96% of the 2,476 places under 10,000 people we track.
  • 84% of renter households spend 30% or more of income on rent, a higher share than in 99% of places its size.
  • Public schools here have 10.3 students per teacher, fewer than in 93% of places its size. It is the 2nd-lowest of 335 Texas places.
  • Households average 3.50 people, larger than in 97% of places its size.
  • The median home is worth 2 years of the median household's income, fewer than in 94% of places its size.

Rent is light relative to pay, but the county has a FEMA natural hazard risk score of 87 out of 100. Budget for insurance before counting the savings.

01

Moving to Ben Bolt

Jim Wells County loses about 1.9 residents per 1,000 a year to moves between counties.

Moved in1,693
Moved out1,752
Net−59

Where people come from and where they go, top counties

Duval County, TX176185−9
Bexar County, TX119137−18
Brooks County, TX6266−4

Within Texas, other states or abroad

Arrivals
Leavers
Within TexasOther states

Income per tax return

Arrivals$49K
Leavers$49K

People on tax returns who moved between counties, from IRS migration data, 2022 to 2023. Figures are for all of Jim Wells County; flows under 20 returns are not published.

Who moves here
4.5% of residents arrived from another county in the past year. County figure.
Who arrives and who leaves
Households moving into Jim Wells County report $48,800 a year in income on average; those leaving, $49,000.
Income you would need
$34,900 a year to rent the median home at the 30% line. From your city
Rent or buy
Median rent is $873 a month; owners with a mortgage pay $1,443 a month including taxes and insurance, on a median home of $123,600.
Getting to work
22 minutes each way on average; 8.3% work from home.
If it is close but not quite
Levelland, TX matches it on character. Compare the two
Income of households moving in5
$48,760
31% below the median place
Income of households moving out5
$49,008
30% below the median place
Moved here in the past year1
4.5%
22% below the median place
All 4 moving measures
MeasureBen BoltAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Moved here in the past year1County figure4.5%22% below
Net movers per 1,000 people5County figure-1.9217% below
Income of households moving in5County figure$48,76031% below
Income of households moving out5County figure$49,00830% below
02

What it costs to live here

Renters paying 30%+ is 84.4%, 67% above the median place.

Ben Bolt17.0%
Typical place20.4%

Share of the median household income that goes to the median rent. Above 30% is the usual stress line.

Income needed to rent
$34,920
a year, at the 30% line
Rent to income
17.0%
17% below the median place
Home price to income
2.0x
47% below the median place

Could you afford it?

The median rent would take
17%
comfortably under the 30% line
Left after rent, in US prices
$51,500
a year, prices not adjusted
Vs the typical household here
Same
as the median household

Uses the median rent in Ben Bolt, $873 a month. It runs in your browser and stores nothing.

Like Ben Bolt, but easier on the budget

Close matches on income, rent, home value, education and age, where rent takes a clearly smaller share of income.

PlaceRent to incomeMore left a year
Denison, IA13.4% vs 17.0%n/aCompare

Moving from somewhere else? Work out the salary you would need in Ben Bolt.

Sponsored · exampleMoving to Ben Bolt? Compare quotes from licensed movers. No partner is signed yet. Sponsored offers are always labelled and never change the data.
Renters paying 30%+1
84.4%
67% above the median place
Property tax paid (median)1
$1,413
57% below the median place
Owner costs with a mortgage1
$1,443
23% below the median place
All 14 cost and housing measures
MeasureBen BoltAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Median gross rent1$87336% below
Rent to income117.0%17% below
Property tax rate11.1%25% above
Home price to income12.0x47% below
Fair market rent, 2 bedrooms2County figure$1,01437% below
Property tax paid (median)1$1,41357% below
Median home value1County figure$123,60061% below
Home prices, 1-year change3County figure11.5%260% above
Home prices, 5-year change3County figure42.8%17% below
Homeownership175.8%14% above
Renters paying 30%+184.4%67% above
Owner costs with a mortgage1$1,44323% below
Vacant homes1County figure18.2%158% above
Median year built119860% above
03

Work and pay

Commutes by transit is 0.0%, below the median place (median 0.8%).

Commutes by transit1
0.0%
below the median place (median 0.8%)
Income per person1
$24,608
39% below the median place
Median household income1
$61,741
23% below the median place
All 10 work and pay measures
MeasureBen BoltAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Median household income1$61,74123% below
Income per person1$24,60839% below
Unemployment1County figure6.1%25% above
Average annual pay4County figure$49,61625% below
Pay growth, 1 year4County figure3.8%3% above
Jobs4County figure14,62790% below
Poverty rate1County figure24.7%129% above
Mean commute122 min12% below
Works from home1County figure8.3%33% below
Commutes by transit10.0%below (median 0.8%)
04

Who lives here

Household size is 3.5, 40% above the median place.

Household size1
3.5
40% above the median place
High school or higher1
77.2%
16% below the median place
No health insurance1
13.2%
106% above the median place

More about who lives here, against the typical place

Bachelor's or higher17.0% −47%
Median age34.8 −11%
Homes with broadband91.7% −1%
All 8 people measures
MeasureBen BoltAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Population12,1526646th largest
Median age134.811% below
Bachelor's or higher117.0%47% below
High school or higher177.2%16% below
Household size13.540% above
Born abroad1County figure4.9%44% below
No health insurance113.2%106% above
Homes with broadband191.7%1% below
05

Life in Ben Bolt

1 site is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Out the door, against the typical place

Parks per 10k residents9.3 −9%
Playgrounds per 10k0.0 −100%
Grocery stores per 10k0.0 −100%
Restaurants, cafes and bars per 10k0.0 −100%
Libraries per 10k0.0 −100%
Named paths and bike trails0 km −100%
Bus and rail stops per sq mi0.0 −100%

Mapped by volunteers in OpenStreetMap inside the city limits (Census boundaries), so coverage is fuller in some places than others. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Businesses per 10,000 residents (county figures)

Restaurants and bars19.8 −5%
Shops31.4 +4%
Arts, recreation and fitness2.1 −49%
Doctors' offices and clinics17.8 −12%
Child care centers4.4 +91%

Counts businesses with paid staff, so small owner-run shops are not included.

Public schools9
1
89% below the median place
Public school students9
206
96% below the median place
Students per teacher9
10.3
33% below the median place
All 16 schools and local life measures
MeasureBen BoltAmong 6,645 placesVs median
Public schools9189% below
Public school students920696% below
Students per teacher910.333% below
Restaurants and bars per 10k6County figure19.85% below
Shops per 10k6County figure31.44% above
Arts, recreation and fitness per 10k6County figure2.149% below
Doctors' offices and clinics per 10k6County figure17.812% below
Child care centers per 10k6County figure4.491% above
Parks per 10k79.39% below
Playgrounds per 10k70.0below (median 9.4)
Grocery stores per 10k70.0below (median 2.1)
Restaurants, cafes and bars per 10k70.0below (median 11.2)
Libraries per 10k70.0below (median 0.9)
Named paths and bike trails70.0below (median 2.0)
Transit stops per sq mi70.0below (median 0.2)
National Register listings8County figure192% below
06

Safety, weather and risk

July average high is 97°F, 11% above the median place.

No crime figure yet. Either the city police department did not report to the FBI for the latest year, or our monthly fetch has not reached Ben Bolt. Larger places are fetched first.

July average high10
97°F
11% above the median place
Average temperature10
73°F
33% above the median place
January average low10
46°F
83% above the median place
All 9 weather and risk measures
MeasureBen BoltAmong 6,645 placesVs median
July average high10County figure97°F11% above
January average low10County figure46°F83% above
Average temperature10County figure73°F33% above
Annual precipitation10County figure26.1 in40% below
Natural hazard risk11County figure86.56% below
Hurricane risk11County figure94.133% above
Tornado risk11County figure68.416% below
Wildfire risk11County figure70.916% above
Heat wave risk11County figure84.46% below
08

Ben Bolt in 2030: where the trends point

If recent trends hold, the median rent will take about 17% of the median income in 2030, about the same as 17% now.

Citytistics projections to 2030: each figure's own trend, blended with the typical trend across the places we rate, eased toward long-run US growth and carried forward from the latest release. The range is where 80% of places landed when we tested the same method on past releases.

MeasureLatest2030 projectionLikely rangeAvg. per year
Median rent$873/mo (2024)$1,080/mo$880 to $1,310/mo+3.6%
Median household income$61,741 (2024)$78,000$66,000 to $92,500+4.0%
Median home value$100,000 (2024)$137,000$99,000 to $188,000+5.3%

The median home would be worth 1.7 years of the median income in 2030, against 1.6 now.

A projection of recent trends, not a prediction of the economy or advice to buy or sell. How we project.

09

Places like Ben Bolt

The closest matches on income, rent, home value, education and age, and the places nearby.

PlaceRentIncome
Levelland, TX$846$58,000Compare
Huntington, IN$879$56,520Compare
Charlotte, MI$887$62,681Compare
Cameron, TX$962$62,443Compare
Cameron, TXCharlotte, MIHuntington, INLevelland, TXBen Bolt, TXBen BoltLevellandHuntingtonCharlotteCameronBen BoltLevellandHuntingtonCharlotteCameron

Common questions

Is Ben Bolt a good place to live?

It depends on what you need, so here is what the numbers say. Between the 2020 and 2024 surveys, household income rose 3.3% a year while rent rose -4.9%, so pay gained on rent more than in 96% of the 2,476 places under 10,000 people we track. 84% of renter households spend 30% or more of income on rent, a higher share than in 99% of places its size. On cost, space and class size it scores 100 out of 100 for families. See how it ranks with your own weights.

Is Ben Bolt expensive to live in?

The median rent takes 17.0% of the median household income, against 20.4% in the typical place we track. Housing is a lighter load here than usual. The median home is valued at $123,600.

What salary do you need to live in Ben Bolt?

To rent the median home without spending more than 30% of income on rent, a household needs about $34,920 a year. Work it out from your current city.

What places are similar to Ben Bolt?

On income, rent, home value, education and age, the closest matches are Levelland, TX, Huntington, IN, Charlotte, MI and Cameron, TX.

Sources and methods

The small numbers beside each measure point here. Every dataset is public; links go to the publisher.

  1. American Community Survey 5-year estimates · US Census Bureau · 2020 to 2024 estimatesTables B01002, B01003, B05002, B07003, B08013, B08301, B15003, B17001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25010, B25035, B25064, B25070, B25077, B25088, B25103, B28002, S2701
  2. Fair Market Rents · US Department of Housing and Urban Development · Fiscal year 2027
  3. House Price Index · Federal Housing Finance Agency · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14
  4. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2025 annual averages
  5. SOI Tax Stats, county-to-county migration · Internal Revenue Service · Tax years 2022 to 2023Counts tax returns and the people on them; flows under 20 returns are suppressed.
  6. County Business Patterns · US Census Bureau · 2023 data
  7. OpenStreetMap · © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL) · Map data as of 2026-11
  8. National Register of Historic Places · National Park Service · Listings through 2026-05-22
  9. Common Core of Data · National Center for Education Statistics · 2024 release
  10. 1991-2020 climate normals · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · Series updated 2026-11-05Averages for 1991 to 2020 computed from NOAA's county climate series (nClimDiv).nClimDiv county series
  11. National Risk Index · Federal Emergency Management Agency · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14NRI data and maps

Derived by Citytistics from the tables above: rent to income (B25064, B19013); property tax rate (B25103, B25077); home price to income (B25077, B19013).

What stands out compares Ben Bolt with places of a similar size, using only figures measured for Ben Bolt itself; county and metro figures never count. Survey figures are estimates with margins of error. Formulas and definitions: methodology. API: /api/v1/places/ben-bolt-texas

Citytistics. “Ben Bolt, Texas.” Data as of 2026-11-14. https://www.citytistics.com/city/ben-bolt-texas/

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.