Many of these people come from areas where dinner is whatever is caged in the backyard ,where household garbage is simply tossed out the window and using cleaning products is nonexistent .it will be a learning experience to say the least

I am the sole money maker in the household my wife is stays at home with the kids.

Rent is $995 with a minimum qualification criteria of $2985 monthly household income.  

Buy a duplex, a triplex, a fourplex, live in one of the units, rent out the other(s).33% of the typical American household's expenses are tied up paying for their housing.

Median household income is $89k,  so housing is only 3.8 times the income.

The home I'm analyzing now is 1235 Plantation Dr, Dickinson, Tx 77539 (Last time I tried to link to something it didn't work so I apologize if this one doesn't either) What I'll be looking for when I'm actually in the market is something cheaper (hopefully with built in equity) with a mother in law suite that I can live in while I rent out the main household.

Small brick houses like the one I'm describing was designed to be maintained in the postwar economy almost 100% by the male head of household in his spare time.

Median household income about 28k, and population based on zip code is 31,000.

A certain population growth, median household income, etc?

You can type in any city or even zipcode and it gives you all kinds of great info, household income, population, housing vacancy, housing stock age, mix of multifamily vs single family ect :https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtmlHUD produces occasional annual reports for most metros:https://www.huduser.gov/portal/ushmc/chma_archive.htmlThe Local County Website or city Municipal websites often have great research as well.Development is important in a growing metro because it shows you where people and business are moving.