Photo: Atownbman · CC BY-SA 4.0At 3.0%, unemployment in Abilene is lower than in 70% of U.S. towns
More than half work in Abilene itself; outside it, Dallas draws the most (2%, 174 miles). Abilene grades B− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. The trip to work takes 16 minutes on average (Texas 27, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Abilene and work: the main findings
Most jobs in Abilene go to people who live here
Of the 56,202 jobs based in Abilene, 54% are held by Abilene residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Abilene are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
The figures behind Abilene’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Abilene is better than 46% of U.S. towns, #316 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Abilene’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (16.1%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Abilene could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
The daily flow of workers through Abilene
On a workday 18,312 residents head out to work, 30,489 work right here, and 25,713 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.15 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
About 16 minutes each way for Abilene’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Abilene workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 54,919 commuters (the 8% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Abilene
About 31% 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.
Where Abilene goes to work
Where Abilene clocks in
2% 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.
Jobs in Abilene: what the 56,202 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Abilene, 2013 → 2023: 49,188 → 56,202. 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 Abilene’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute in Abilene is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Abilene is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #137 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Abilene 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 59,950 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). 4.4% of Abilene households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Abilene’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
For jobs and income, Abilene is 194th of 288 U.S. towns of 92,000 to 178,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 2 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Fishers IN | 104,812 | $130K | 4.0% | 2.8% | 14% | A+ |
| 4 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Allen TX | 113,447 | $131K | 6.1% | 3.7% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Sugar Land TX | 107,726 | $136K | 5.5% | 4.1% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 192 | Brockton MA | 106,134 | $80K | 13.5% | 8.6% | 21% | B− |
| 193 | Spokane Valley WA | 108,405 | $74K | 12.9% | 5.2% | 30% | B− |
| 194 | Abilene TX | 131,588 | $63K | 16.1% | 3.0% | 62% | B− |
| 195 | Lakeland FL | 125,520 | $64K | 13.2% | 4.5% | 32% | B− |
| 196 | Visalia CA | 146,541 | $82K | 11.5% | 6.9% | 44% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 288 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Abilene, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Abilene and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Abilene’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 Abilene: questions
What is the median household income in Abilene?
$62,648 (±$2,072) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Abilene?
16.1%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Abilene?
16 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Abilene work?
62% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dallas (2%, 174 mi), Austin (2%, 189 mi), Fort Worth (2%, 141 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Abilene walkable?
Abilene is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Abilene without a car?
<1% 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 Abilene, from the people who make the trip.
More of Abilene
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.