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Work & commute in Rice Tracts · A commuter town

100% of Rice Tracts’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Rice Tracts for work: only 0% work in town. The top destinations are Brownsville (30%), Harlingen (22%) and San Benito (5%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Work in town
0%
0 of 259 working residents
Typical commute
13 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
27 min
Less than TX (27 min)
Work from home
7%
Less than TX (14%)
Jobs based here
52
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Rice Tracts?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

30% of working residents work in Brownsville

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

AuroraRancho ViejoPrimera: 3 residents work here (1%)Los Fresnos: 3 residents work here (1%)AltonWeslaco: 11 residents work here (4%)San Benito: 13 residents work here (5%)MissionHarlingen: 56 residents work here (22%)Austin: 4 residents work here (2%)San Antonio: 7 residents work here (3%)Houston: 5 residents work here (2%)EdinburgMcAllen: 11 residents work here (4%)Brownsville: 78 residents work here (30%)PalmerRice TractsEncantada-Ranchito-El CalabozDoffingBrownsvilleHarlingenSan BenitoWeslacoMcAllenSan AntonioRice Tracts
1
Brownsville10.3 mi away
30%78
2
Harlingen10.1 mi away
22%56
3
San Benito4.9 mi away
5%13
4
Weslaco23.4 mi away
4%11
5
McAllen40 mi away
4%11
6
San Antonio241.4 mi away
3%7
7
Houston291.4 mi away
2%5
8
Austin293 mi away
2%4
9
Primera13.7 mi away
1%3
10
Los Fresnos8.7 mi away
1%3
Everywhere elseother towns and states
26%68
The top trips

Where Rice Tracts clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Day and night

Rice Tracts quiets down on a workday

On a workday 259 residents head out to work, 0 work right here, and 52 people come in from elsewhere.

259live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
52work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night1,400
Workday1,200
1,400live here− 260head out to work+ 52come in to work= 1,200on a workday

About 1,200 people are in Rice Tracts on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.20jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Rice Tracts commutes less than 13 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miBrownsville: 30% · 10.3 miHarlingen: 22% · 10.1 miSan Benito: 5% · 4.9 miWeslaco: 4% · 23.4 miMcAllen: 4% · 40 miSan Antonio: 3% · 241.4 miHouston: 2% · 291.4 miAustin: 2% · 293 miPrimera: 1% · 13.7 miLos Fresnos: 1% · 8.7 miBrownsville 30%Harlingen 22%San Benito 5%Weslaco 4%McAllen 4%Rice Tracts
Rice TractsTop destinations (size = commuters)
27%Under 10 mi69 residents
44%10–24 mi113 residents
10%25–50 mi27 residents
19%Over 50 mi50 residents

About 19% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

88% of the jobs in Rice Tracts pay over $3,333 a month

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

Jobs based in Rice TractsJobs Rice Tracts residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms12%15%
Trade, transport & utilities88%19%
Services: health, schools, offices0%66%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less0%28%
$1,251–$3,333 a month12%39%
Over $3,333 a month88%33%

Who does it

29 or younger17%35%
30 to 5450%44%
55 and older33%21%
+550%

Jobs based in Rice Tracts, 2013 → 2023: 8 → 52. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

Time on the road

About 27 minutes each way, about the TX average

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
203 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Rice Tracts27 min
Texas27 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
7%

of Rice Tracts workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
Next door

Rice Tracts and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Rice Tracts’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

Encantada-Ranchito-El Calaboz: few work herePalmer: few work hereEncantada-Ranchito-El CalabozPalmerRice Tracts
10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Encantada-Ranchito-El Calaboz20 min
Palmer24 min
Rice Tracts27 min
How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Rice Tracts

Rice Tracts home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Rice Tracts, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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