Household incomes in Woodlands are higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 5.4%, against 12.0% across California. For jobs and income Woodlands is better than 84% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (B−). Home is the office for 50% of workers; California has 17%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Woodlands in brief
A lot of Woodlands works from home
50% of Woodlands workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Woodlands is a place people come home to
There are 91 jobs based in Woodlands, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
Woodlands and Santa Maria trade workers both ways
Santa Maria is the top workplace for Woodlands residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Woodlands come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 568 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Woodlands
Household income holds Woodlands’ grade up ($136,618, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 49% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Woodlands’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, Woodlands could be anywhere from B− to A.
Commuting from Woodlands: about 23 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Woodlands workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 184 commuters (the 50% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many people are in Woodlands by day
On a workday 562 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 85 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Woodlands on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
0.16 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.
Out of Woodlands to work: where people go
Where Woodlands clocks in
11% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
In Woodlands, 30% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
91 jobs are based in Woodlands.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Woodlands, 2013 → 2023: 91 → 91. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Woodlands’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Woodlands
About 36% 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.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Woodlands is a driving town
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 4.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 367 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.3% of Woodlands households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Woodlands’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,793 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,800, Woodlands comes 588th on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Baywood Park CA | 1,580 | $217K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Irwindale CA | 1,439 | $114K | 4.3% | 6.5% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 586 | Germantown Township IL | 2,150 | $97K | 4.3% | 1.9% | 8% | A− |
| 587 | Spencer Brook Township MN | 1,734 | $104K | 5.6% | 1.5% | 1% | A− |
| 588 | Woodlands CA | 2,061 | $137K | 5.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| 589 | Edgerton KS | 1,744 | $85K | 4.3% | 2.8% | 2% | A− |
| 590 | Palmhurst TX | 2,562 | $98K | 4.3% | 4.0% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,793 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Woodlands, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to Woodlands
The biggest share goes to Nipomo (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Woodlands’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. 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 Woodlands: questions
What is the median household income in Woodlands?
$136,618 (±$55,369) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Woodlands?
5.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Woodlands?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 50% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Woodlands work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Maria (17%, 9 mi), San Luis Obispo (11%, 18 mi), Los Angeles (5%, 140 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Woodlands walkable?
Woodlands is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 4.2 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Woodlands without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Woodlands, from the people who make the trip.
More of Woodlands
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. 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.