Work & commute · Port Isabel

Work & commute in Port Isabel, TX

Most working residents leave Port Isabel for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are South Padre Island (27%), Brownsville (11%) and McAllen (5%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

187 of 1,659 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

14 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 1,472 Port Isabel residents head out of town to work, 187 work right here, and 1,210 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Port Isabel.

1,472live here, work elsewhere

187live and work here

1,210work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Port Isabel goes to work

South Padre Island9.4 mi away

27%448

Port Isabel (in town)right here

11%187

Brownsville11.8 mi away

11%187

McAllen59.1 mi away

5%80

Harlingen25.6 mi away

4%65

Edinburg55.1 mi away

3%43

Corpus Christi117 mi away

3%42

Houston282.5 mi away

2%41

Los Fresnos11 mi away

2%38

San Antonio246.2 mi away

2%36

Everywhere elseother towns and states

30%492

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

How far

How far Port Isabel commutes

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

42%

15%

35%

42%Under 10 mi

15%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

35%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Port Isabel is balanced between jobs and homes

0.84jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.84 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Port Isabel are

1,397 jobs are based in Port Isabel. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Port Isabel’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Port Isabel

1,397 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities39%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month53%

Over $3,333 a month27%

Jobs Port Isabel residents hold

1,659 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month44%

Over $3,333 a month35%

+16%

Jobs based in Port Isabel, 2013 → 2023: 1,208 → 1,397. 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.