Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Lake Jackson is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 443rd among Texas's 640 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: it is healthier than 49% of U.S. towns. Expect to pay for it: the typical home is worth about $270K, 3.3 years of the Houston metro’s $82K median household income. 27% of the land in Lake Jackson is conserved, above both the Texas town median (1.9%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). On the outdoors, just 28 of Texas’ 1,000 towns do better. Lake Jackson is home to Brazosport College.
Where Lake Jackson beats most towns.
27.1% of the town is conserved land, across 21 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Lake Jackson is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,897 in 1950, 28,177 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 3 maps from 1943 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lake Jackson, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Lake Jackson.
Lake Jackson has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and has commutes shorter than most of Texas, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
13 miles of trail in 21 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, at 293 acres. At 0.6 miles per square mile, Lake Jackson’s trail density is above Texas’ towns (0.3) and close to U.S. towns (0.4).
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. MacLean Park | 1.7 mi | 65 |
| 2. San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge | — | 293 |
| 3. Dunbar Park | — | 69 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Brazosport ISD. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bess Brannen ElLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 747 | A |
| Brazos Success AcademyLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 134 | A− |
| O M Roberts ElTop results in townGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 674 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
The average commute for its 12,292 working residents takes 20.7 minutes, against 26.7 across Texas.
Most working residents leave Lake Jackson for work: only 11% work in town. Lake Jackson’s average trip to work is 21 minutes. Jobs based in Lake Jackson grew to 7,342 in 2023, 795 more than in 2013.
| Lake Jackson | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 5.6% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Median household income | $91,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 8.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The violent crime rate in Lake Jackson is 3 per 1,000 residents.
| Lake Jackson | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
January nights average 45.4°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 91.6°. The Freeport 2 Nw weather station, 6 miles away, records that about 82 days a year reach 90°: more than most of the country, but fewer than 76% of Texas places with climate records.
Lake Jackson has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Lake Jackson | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 45°F | 37°F | 22°F |
| July high | 92°F | 95°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
331 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 19 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 65% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 331 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lake Jackson.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Lake Jackson home is worth about $271,000, up 0.6% in a year, 9% below the Texas typical home. 62% of households own their home in Lake Jackson.
| Lake Jackson | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 62% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,478 a month | $1,206 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Texas average. 13% of Lake Jackson residents are 65 or older. 28% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 34% across Texas.
| Lake Jackson | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 14% | 18% |
| Median age | 35.7 years | 35.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 24% | 26% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 28% | 23% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2 points. Across Texas, 50.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 38.7, men 32.8.
| Lake Jackson | TX | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.9% | 13.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.5% | 11.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.3% | 9.7% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.9% | 14.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.8% | 14.1% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.8% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.7% | 11.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.1% | 8.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.9% | 5.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.4% | 14% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.9% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 29.4% | 20.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.5% | 7.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.8% | 21.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10% | 12.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Lake Jackson beats the Texas average on 6 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 3.
| Lake Jackson | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 39% | 36% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 74% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 24% | 19% |
| What stands out | Lake Jackson | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9.8% | 12.5% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 15.3% | 19.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 7.7% | 6.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Lake Jackson
About 6 of every 100 Lake Jackson residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.
6 notable people were born in Lake Jackson.
City in Brazoria County, Texas, United States
Lake Jackson is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, within the Greater Houston metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 28,177. In 1942 a portion of Lake Jackson was first developed as a company town for workers of the Dow Chemical Company; it developed 5,000 acres on the former Abner Jackson Plantation. An oxbow lake was also named after the planter, whose house was located at the lake. Minor ruins of the Lake Jackson Plantation can now be seen in a park at the site.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Lake Jackson.
| Town | TX rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Jackson | #443 | C− | C | C | B− | B− |
| Freeport | #388 | C− | A− | C− | B− | D |
| Clute | #499 | D | C− | C | B− | C |
| Richwood | #214 | B− | C+ | B+ | B− | B |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lake Jackson grades C− overall, better than 15% of U.S. towns and #443 of 640 in Texas. It grades B− for health, C for safety and B− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
6 notable people were born here, including Brad Lincoln and John Wiley Bryant.