Work & commute · Primera

Work & commute in Primera, TX

Most working residents leave Primera for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Harlingen (40%), Brownsville (8%) and San Benito (5%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

22 of 1,958 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 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 1,936 Primera residents head out of town to work, 22 work right here, and 431 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Primera.

1,936live here, work elsewhere

22live and work here

431work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Primera goes to work

Harlingen4 mi away

40%781

Brownsville23.3 mi away

8%165

San Benito9.3 mi away

5%101

Weslaco15.3 mi away

4%73

Edinburg25.7 mi away

3%53

San Antonio228.8 mi away

2%43

Houston285.2 mi away

2%43

McAllen30.6 mi away

2%41

Corpus Christi111.6 mi away

1%29

Mercedes11.1 mi away

1%28

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%601

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

How far

How far Primera commutes

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

50%

16%

14%

20%

50%Under 10 mi

16%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

20%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Primera is a commuter town

0.23jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Primera are

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

Jobs based in Primera

453 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities42%

Services (health, schools, offices…)31%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Primera residents hold

1,958 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month44%

+72%

Jobs based in Primera, 2013 → 2023: 264 → 453. 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.