Work & commute · Highlands

Work & commute in Highlands, TX

Most working residents leave Highlands for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Houston (32%), Baytown (11%) and Pasadena (4%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

134 of 3,261 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,127 Highlands residents head out of town to work, 134 work right here, and 1,770 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Highlands.

3,127live here, work elsewhere

134live and work here

1,770work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Highlands goes to work

Houston19.9 mi away

32%1,053

Baytown6.3 mi away

11%346

Pasadena12.3 mi away

4%143

Highlands (in town)right here

4%134

Deer Park9.1 mi away

4%119

La Porte10.1 mi away

2%79

Channelview3.6 mi away

2%74

Austin164.7 mi away

2%49

Mont Belvieu11.3 mi away

1%39

League City22.5 mi away

1%32

Everywhere elseother towns and states

37%1,193

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

How far

How far Highlands commutes

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

30%

38%

20%

13%

30%Under 10 mi

38%10–24 mi

20%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Highlands is a commuter town

0.58jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.58 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Highlands are

1,904 jobs are based in Highlands. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Highlands’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Highlands

1,904 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)40%

Trade, transport & utilities40%

Services (health, schools, offices…)20%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month68%

Jobs Highlands residents hold

3,261 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month61%

+43%

Jobs based in Highlands, 2013 → 2023: 1,332 → 1,904. 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.