Point Comfort is a city in Calhoun County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States. It is a part of the

Victoria, Texas Victoria is a city and the county seat of Victoria County, Texas, United States. The population was 65,534 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The three counties of the Victoria, Texas metropolitan area, Victoria Metropolitan Statis ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 603 at the 2020 census.

Geography

Point Comfort is located in northeastern Calhoun County on the east side of Lavaca Bay.

Texas State Highway 35 State Highway 35 (SH 35) is a state highway near the southeastern edge of Texas, United States, that is maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). It runs primarily south–north, paralleling the Gulf of Mexico for much o ...

passes through the community, leading southwest across the bay to Port Lavaca, the Calhoun County seat, and east to Palacios. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, Point Comfort has a total area of , all land.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Point Comfort has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Demographics

2020 Census data

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 603 people, 221 households, and 140 families residing in the city.

2000 Census data

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 781 people, 284 households, and 214 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 393 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 88.99%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.41%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.26% Native American, 1.79% Asian, 5.89% from other races, and 1.66% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 19.59% of the population. There were 284 households, out of which 39.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.3% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.14. In the city, the population was 30.2% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $44,500, and the median income for a family was $49,653. Males had a median income of $35,625 versus $23,571 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $19,202. About 7.5% of families and 11.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 20.6% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Point Comfort is served by the Calhoun County Independent School District. The city was served by Point Comfort Elementary School (Point Comfort) now closed, Travis Middle School ( Port Lavaca) and Calhoun High School (Port Lavaca).

Economy

Point Comfort is the site of a controversial Formosa PVC plant, site of both the Formosa Plastics propylene explosion as well as large-scale waste violations that resulted in the largest citizen-led settlement of a Clean Water Act suit in the United States. In 2020, the latter controversy was portrayed in episode 12 ("Point Comfort") of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series Dirty Money.

Plastic pollution Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are catego ...

continued in Lavaca Bay even after the court settlement.

References

External links

Handbook of Texas Online article
{{authority control Cities in Calhoun County, Texas Cities in Texas Victoria, Texas metropolitan area Populated coastal places in Texas