Work & commute · Austin

Work & commute in Austin, TX

65% of Austin’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Houston (3%), Round Rock (3%) and San Antonio (3%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

65%

291,742 of 448,411 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

31%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 156,669 Austin residents head out of town to work, 291,742 work right here, and 512,180 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Austin.

156,669live here, work elsewhere

291,742live and work here

512,180work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Austin goes to work

Austin (in town)right here

65%291,742

Houston145.8 mi away

3%14,240

Round Rock16.6 mi away

3%14,043

San Antonio73.9 mi away

3%13,129

Dallas181.9 mi away

2%10,958

Cedar Park15.1 mi away

1%4,564

Pflugerville13.7 mi away

1%4,018

Plano199.1 mi away

1%2,978

San Marcos31.3 mi away

1%2,746

Bee Cave12.5 mi away

1%2,474

Everywhere elseother towns and states

20%87,519

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Austin commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

57%

21%

19%

57%Under 10 mi

21%10–24 mi

2%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Austin is a job hub

1.79jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Austin are

803,922 jobs are based in Austin. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Austin’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Austin

803,922 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month74%

Jobs Austin residents hold

448,411 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month72%

+42%

Jobs based in Austin, 2013 → 2023: 564,985 → 803,922. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.