Work & commute · Texas

Work & commute in Texas, TX

Most working residents leave Texas for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Houston (18%), Galveston (18%) and League City (6%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

3,555 of 21,517 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 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 17,962 Texas residents head out of town to work, 3,555 work right here, and 14,183 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Texas.

17,962live here, work elsewhere

3,555live and work here

14,183work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Texas goes to work

Houston39 mi away

18%3,926

Galveston17.1 mi away

18%3,770

Texas City (in town)right here

17%3,555

League City13.9 mi away

6%1,226

La Marque7.3 mi away

3%572

Webster15.5 mi away

3%543

Pasadena22.3 mi away

2%483

Dickinson10.2 mi away

2%446

Deer Park22.9 mi away

2%387

Austin181.9 mi away

1%305

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%6,304

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

How far

How far Texas commutes

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

29%

35%

20%

16%

29%Under 10 mi

35%10–24 mi

20%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Texas is balanced between jobs and homes

0.82jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.82 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Texas are

17,738 jobs are based in Texas. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Texas’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Texas

17,738 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month63%

Jobs Texas residents hold

21,517 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month56%

−1%

Jobs based in Texas, 2013 → 2023: 17,913 → 17,738. 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.