Matagorda, Texas.
Typical home $306,778 (+1.7% in a year). Bay City, TX metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$863 (+116%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $5,026 +2%
- $301,752$306,778 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $72,249 +31%
- $234,529$306,778 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Matagorda$1,610
- Texas$1,556
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 13 years.
Typical home values in Matagorda, TX rose 1.7% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Matagorda, Matagorda County, Texas
Matagorda, in Matagorda County, had 313 people in the 2020 census. Unemployment in Matagorda County was 6.0% in August 2026, and the county had 2.6% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Matagorda County work in schools and health care, then manufacturing.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Matagorda is a very small community in Matagorda County, and its residents are older on the whole than in most American places. Homes here are valued well above what households across the county typically earn in a year, which is worth knowing for anyone weighing a purchase. Winters are mild, with little or no snow, and summers run hot, especially in August. Rain falls throughout the year.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, with others in manufacturing, the building trades and shops. Across Matagorda County, some of the largest workplaces are the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company, which generates electric power, Tenaris Bay City, which makes pipe from iron and steel, and Matagorda Regional Medical Center. Unemployment across the county is a little lower than a year ago, and the county has added jobs over the past year.
Things to do. The Colorado River is a short drive away and suits anyone who likes time by the water. A longer drive brings you to Fort Saint Louis, a historic fort, and to Big Boggy National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area for walking and watching wildlife.
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What people in Matagorda County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Matagorda County had 11,495 jobs in 2025, 2.6% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 62° and lows near 44°; warmest in August, with highs near 89° and lows near 77°. About 44 inches of rain a year, and little or no snow.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Matagorda No weather station, a mile away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Matagorda County
- South Texas Project Nuclear Operating CompanyElectric power generation, nuclear1,200
- Tenaris Bay CityPipe made from purchased iron or steel657
- Bay City ISDSchool district533FTE
- Matagorda Regional Medical CenterGeneral hospital293FTE
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters269
- H-E-BRetail259
- Performance Contractors, Inc. - Roehm-Bay CityConstruction management, oil refinery and petrochemical complex249
- Palacios ISDSchool district223FTE
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 21 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 3,938 people in all across the county; Matagorda has none of its own. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- HurricanesVery high
- Coastal floodingRelatively high
- DroughtRelatively moderate
- WildfireRelatively moderate
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
- LightningRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Matagorda’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively high. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Matagorda County and the Bay City, TX metro.
Matagorda home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Matagorda$306,778
- Texas$296,424
- United States$366,157
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 7 Matagorda listings — the market is roughly in balance.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Matagorda15.30%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Matagorda46
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Zip codes with a Matagorda address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Matagorda — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.