Photo: Leaflet · CC BY-SA 3.0At 1.0%, unemployment in Abernathy is lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 4% of workers, where Texas as a whole has 14%. The two grades for Abernathy are A for jobs and income and B− for walkability. About one in seven work in Abernathy; the top destination outside it is Lubbock (45%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Abernathy
Nearly half of Abernathy works in Lubbock
525 working residents, 45%, have their main job in Lubbock, 18 miles away. That’s 4 times as many as work in Abernathy itself. The commute map ↓
Few Abernathy workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Abernathy are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
How Abernathy earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Abernathy is better than 89% of U.S. towns, #90 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 58% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Abernathy could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Where Abernathy goes to work
Where Abernathy clocks in
4% of workers
2% 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.
The trip to work from Abernathy: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Abernathy workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,448 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Texas: 83% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The daily flow of workers through Abernathy
On a workday 1,026 residents head out to work, 142 work right here, and 548 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Abernathy on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.59 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.
The 690 jobs based in Abernathy
690 jobs are based in Abernathy.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Abernathy, 2013 → 2023: 525 → 690. 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 Abernathy’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Abernathy works
About 27% 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.
Most of Abernathy commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Abernathy is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns, #299 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Abernathy near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,511 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). 4.1% of Abernathy households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Abernathy’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Abernathy is 395th of 4,703 U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 393 | Lake Orion MI | 2,900 | $101K | 9.2% | 0.7% | 8% | A |
| 394 | Hartford SD | 3,635 | $100K | 5.5% | 0.9% | 9% | A |
| 395 | Abernathy TX | 2,826 | $88K | 3.0% | 1.0% | 12% | A |
| 396 | Sangamon Township IL | 2,533 | $121K | 2.7% | 2.3% | 4% | A |
| 397 | Gibbs Township ND | 2,856 | $156K | 1.4% | 2.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,703 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Abernathy, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
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 Abernathy: questions
What is the median household income in Abernathy?
$87,531 (±$17,976) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Abernathy?
3.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Abernathy?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Abernathy work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lubbock (45%, 18 mi), Amarillo (4%, 95 mi), Plainview (2%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Abernathy walkable?
Abernathy is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Abernathy without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Abernathy, from the people who make the trip.
More of Abernathy
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.