Work & commute · Plains

Work & commute in Plains, TX

About one in 4 of Plains’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Lubbock (10%), Denver City (5%) and Dallas (3%). Half commute less than 38 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

25%

99 of 392 working residents

Typical commute

38 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 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 293 Plains residents head out of town to work, 99 work right here, and 350 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Plains.

293live here, work elsewhere

99live and work here

350work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Plains goes to work

Plains (in town)right here

25%99

Lubbock59.7 mi away

10%40

Denver City15.2 mi away

5%19

Dallas351.9 mi away

3%11

Seminole33.7 mi away

2%9

Brownfield31.7 mi away

2%8

Hobbs, NM37.3 mi away

2%7

Midland90.4 mi away

2%6

Amarillo150.1 mi away

2%6

Clovis, NM89 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

46%182

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

How far

How far Plains commutes

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

31%

11%

49%

31%Under 10 mi

11%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

49%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Plains is balanced between jobs and homes

1.15jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.15 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Plains are

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

Jobs based in Plains

449 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)33%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Plains residents hold

392 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)32%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month56%

+32%

Jobs based in Plains, 2013 → 2023: 341 → 449. 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.