Santa Rosa vs South Padre Island

A side-by-side comparison of Santa Rosa and South Padre Island: population, income, housing, and more.

Santa Rosa and South Padre Island are places in Texas. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Santa Rosa has the higher population (3,111 vs 2,852 in South Padre Island). South Padre Island has the higher median household income ($61,578 vs $29,803 in Santa Rosa). South Padre Island has the higher median home value ($498,800 vs $48,700 in Santa Rosa).

Population, income & housing

	Santa Rosa	South Padre Island
Population	3,111	2,852
Median age	25.5 yrs	59.0 yrs
Median household income	$29,803	$61,578
Median home value	$48,700	$498,800
Median gross rent	$892	$1,421
Housing units	1,060	5,843
Homeownership rate	53.9%	66.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	9.7%	52.5%
Unemployment rate	11.3%	6.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Santa Rosa	South Padre Island
Population	2,784 → 3,111 (+11.7%)	2,818 → 2,852 (+1.2%)
Median household income	$26,947 → $29,803 (+10.6%)	$45,221 → $61,578 (+36.2%)
Median home value	$39,700 → $48,700 (+22.7%)	$306,800 → $498,800 (+62.6%)
Median gross rent	$635 → $892 (+40.5%)	$1,081 → $1,421 (+31.5%)

Santa Rosa

Population

2,7843,111

Median household income

$26,947$29,803

Median home value

$39,700$48,700

Median gross rent

$635$892

South Padre Island

Population

2,8182,852

Median household income

$45,221$61,578

Median home value

$306,800$498,800

Median gross rent

$1,081$1,421

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Santa Rosa	South Padre Island
Under 5	8.3%	5.3%
5 to 17	25.6%	5.8%
18 to 24	14.6%	8.6%
25 to 34	14.9%	5.0%
35 to 44	10.0%	0.7%
45 to 54	9.5%	8.2%
55 to 64	9.1%	33.1%
65 to 74	5.7%	23.6%
75 and over	2.2%	9.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Santa Rosa	South Padre Island
White (non-Hispanic)	1.7%	76.2%
Black or African American	0.0%	5.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	1.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	1.2%
Two or more races	0.0%	0.4%
Hispanic or Latino	98.3%	14.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Santa Rosa	South Padre Island
No high school diploma	29.9%	8.0%
High school graduate	37.4%	9.8%
Some college or associate's	23.0%	29.8%
Bachelor's degree	6.7%	26.2%
Graduate or professional degree	3.1%	26.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Santa Rosa	South Padre Island
Drove alone	84.5%	61.4%
Carpooled	8.5%	1.0%
Public transit	0.0%	1.4%
Walked	0.0%	13.6%
Bicycle	0.0%	3.5%
Worked from home	6.9%	18.0%
Other means	0.0%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Santa Rosa	South Padre Island
1-unit, detached	80.3%	13.1%
1-unit, attached	3.7%	2.5%
2 to 4 units	6.7%	13.6%
5 to 19 units	1.4%	8.1%
20 or more units	2.6%	62.7%
Mobile home & other	5.3%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Santa Rosa	South Padre Island
Poverty rate	42.6%	13.9%
Average household size	3.41	1.88
Mean commute (minutes)	23	14
Median year structure built	1989	1985