Photo: Patriarca12 · CC BY 4.0Households in Alpine earn less than those in 74% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers, against 14% across Texas. The poverty rate is 8.7%, against 13.8% across Texas. For jobs and income Alpine is better than 30% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Alpine
Commutes from Alpine are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 107 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Alpine go to people who live here
Of the 2,482 jobs based in Alpine, 51% are held by Alpine residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
38% 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.
Alpine’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
The poverty rate holds Alpine’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Alpine could be anywhere from D to B.
The trip to work from Alpine: about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alpine workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,975 commuters (the 7% 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.
In and out of Alpine on a workday
On a workday 1,283 residents head out to work, 1,254 work right here, and 1,228 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 (0.98 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.
How far Alpine goes to work
About 38% 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 Alpine goes to work
Where Alpine clocks in
4% of workers
3% of workers
3% 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.
Inside Alpine’s 2,482 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alpine, 2013 → 2023: 2,298 → 2,482. 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 Alpine’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Alpine is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,184 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). 7.5% of Alpine households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Alpine’s commuters take a bus or train.
Alpine next to U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,100: 2,528th of 3,394 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Garden Ridge TX | 4,371 | $177K | 0.4% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | Canutillo TX | 5,962 | $41K | 34.0% | 3.5% | 2% | C |
| 2,527 | Buhl ID | 4,801 | $56K | 7.6% | 5.4% | 15% | C |
| 2,528 | Alpine TX | 5,989 | $60K | 8.7% | 4.1% | 49% | C |
| 2,529 | Columbia Township OH | 4,233 | $68K | 26.4% | 8.1% | 1% | C |
| 2,530 | Boulder Creek CA | 4,632 | $84K | 7.1% | 12.1% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,394 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Alpine, 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 Alpine: questions
What is the median household income in Alpine?
$60,139 (±$17,770) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alpine?
8.7%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alpine?
13 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alpine work?
49% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marfa (4%, 22 mi), Odessa (3%, 131 mi), Midland (3%, 147 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alpine walkable?
Alpine is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alpine without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alpine, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alpine
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.