Work & commute · Wharton

Work & commute in Wharton, TX

Most working residents leave Wharton for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Houston (22%), Rosenberg (5%) and El Campo (4%). Half commute less than 42 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

634 of 4,330 working residents

Typical commute

42 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 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 3,696 Wharton residents head out of town to work, 634 work right here, and 3,173 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wharton.

3,696live here, work elsewhere

634live and work here

3,173work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wharton goes to work

Houston53.7 mi away

22%951

Wharton (in town)right here

15%634

Rosenberg23.1 mi away

5%219

El Campo13.1 mi away

4%179

Sugar Land34.2 mi away

3%122

Bay City24.6 mi away

2%102

East Bernard14.5 mi away

2%98

Austin120 mi away

2%85

Victoria63.2 mi away

1%50

San Antonio146.2 mi away

1%42

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%1,848

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

How far

How far Wharton commutes

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

18%

15%

28%

39%

18%Under 10 mi

15%10–24 mi

28%25–50 mi

39%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wharton is balanced between jobs and homes

0.88jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.88 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Wharton are

3,807 jobs are based in Wharton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wharton’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Wharton

3,807 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Wharton residents hold

4,330 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month52%

−3%

Jobs based in Wharton, 2013 → 2023: 3,938 → 3,807. 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.