Photo: WhisperToMe · Public domainHouseholds in Aldine have lower incomes than those in 93% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 30.3% of residents, where Texas as a whole has 13.8%. The two grades for Aldine are C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 4.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 10.1 in Houston.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Aldine, in brief
Aldine makes and builds things
70% of the jobs based in Aldine are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Aldine residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 23%. The jobs ↓
More than half of Aldine works in Houston
2,504 working residents, 51%, have their main job in Houston, 8.8 miles away. That’s 10 times as many as work in Aldine itself. The commute map ↓
The jobs in Aldine pay better than its residents’ jobs
78% of the jobs based in Aldine pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 51% of the jobs Aldine residents hold. 98% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Aldine. The jobs ↓
Aldine is where the jobs are
Aldine has 10,088 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Aldine draws workers from far and wide
The 10,088 jobs in Aldine are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 35%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. 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.
Where Aldine’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Aldine is better than 21% of U.S. towns, #510 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Aldine’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Aldine could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Goods, not services: 70% of the jobs in Aldine
10,088 jobs are based in Aldine.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Aldine, 2013 → 2023: 9,770 → 10,088. 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 Aldine’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Aldine’s workforce comes from
Where Aldine clocks in
51% 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.
A workday in Aldine: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 4,648 residents head out to work, 240 work right here, and 9,848 people come in from elsewhere.
About 22,000 people are in Aldine on a workday afternoon, 30% more than live here.
2.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Time on the road from Aldine: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Aldine workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,481 commuters (the 10% 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.
Where in the region Aldine works
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.
Aldine is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Aldine is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #46 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above the 3.0% across Texas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,226 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 83% 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 4.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 81% 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). 2.1% of Aldine households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Aldine’s commuters take a bus or train.
Aldine next to U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000: 1,745th of 1,999 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Lantana TX | 12,766 | $199K | 0.6% | 2.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Bellaire TX | 17,434 | $244K | 2.4% | 3.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,743 | Waianae HI | 12,918 | $82K | 16.2% | 8.8% | 6% | C− |
| 1,744 | Berea SC | 16,862 | $50K | 22.9% | 6.7% | 2% | C− |
| 1,745 | Aldine TX | 17,167 | $44K | 30.3% | 8.5% | 5% | C− |
| 1,746 | Gloversville NY | 14,782 | $52K | 17.6% | 4.4% | 16% | C− |
| 1,747 | Donna TX | 16,698 | $40K | 40.7% | 5.4% | 15% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Aldine, 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 Aldine: questions
What is the median household income in Aldine?
$44,455 (±$8,565) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Aldine?
30.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Aldine?
30 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Aldine work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (51%, 9 mi), Dallas (2%, 215 mi), Austin (2%, 144 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Aldine walkable?
Aldine is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Aldine without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Aldine, from the people who make the trip.
More of Aldine
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.