Jobs, income and commuting in Houston, AK
Jobs & income D: better than 13% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability C: more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns.
Household incomes here are lower than in 53% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 47 minutes each way (Alaska 19, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What’s behind Houston’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Houston is better than 13% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Houston’s grade up ($73,015, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 3% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (12.0%) is left out: Houston’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Houston could be anywhere from D− to C.
About 47 minutes each way, longer than most of Alaska
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Houston workers work from home, vs 10% across Alaska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 740 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Alaska: 72% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Most trips from Houston start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Houston is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 9.9% across Alaska, on an EPA index of 2.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 838 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.7% of Houston households have no vehicle (Alaska 9.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Houston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Houston is 4,412th of 5,328 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Houston, the top three, the last and three more from Alaska.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,294 | Prudhoe Bay AK | 1,664 | — | 6.3% | 1.2% | — | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,680 | North Pole AK | 2,477 | $92K | 4.9% | 4.6% | — | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,811 | Bear Creek AK | 1,732 | $96K | 3.1% | 6.7% | — | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,410 | Westville NY | 1,796 | $57K | 12.4% | 4.3% | 1% | D |
| 4,411 | Silver Springs Shores East FL | 1,777 | $60K | 36.7% | 12.5% | 2% | D |
| 4,412 | Houston AK | 2,267 | $73K | 18.8% | 12.0% | — | D |
| 4,413 | Cambridge City IN | 1,730 | $51K | 19.9% | 4.7% | 7% | D |
| 4,414 | Tama IA | 3,011 | $69K | 24.0% | 7.5% | 16% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Houston: questions
What is the median household income in Houston?
$73,015 (±$18,540) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $92,788 across Alaska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Houston?
18.8%, against 10.1% across Alaska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Houston?
47 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Alaska and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Is Houston walkable?
Houston is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 2.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Houston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Houston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Houston
Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.