More people are out of work in Alton (8.3%) than in 89% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 84% of U.S. towns. Alton grades C− for jobs and income and C for walkability. 27.5% of residents are in poverty (Texas 13.8%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Alton at work: what stands out
Alton is a place people come home to
There are 1,210 jobs based in Alton, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
Alton has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Alton went from 781 in 2013 to 1,210 in 2023, +55%. The jobs ↓
Most Alton residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Alton workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Alton’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 20% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
33% of the jobs based in Alton are held by workers 29 or younger, against 28% of Alton’s own working residents. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Alton’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Alton is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #532 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Alton’s grade up (ahead of 77% 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, Alton could be anywhere from D to C.
Who leaves Alton for work, and who comes in
On a workday 5,732 residents head out to work, 109 work right here, and 1,101 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Alton on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.21 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.
What the 1,210 jobs in Alton are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alton, 2013 → 2023: 781 → 1,210. 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 Alton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Alton
About 22% 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.
24% of working residents work in McAllen
Where Alton clocks in
24% of workers
18% of workers
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.
The trip to work from Alton: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alton workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,762 commuters (the 12% 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.
Driving is how Alton gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Alton is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns, #476 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Alton 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 7,642 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). 3.4% of Alton households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Alton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Alton next to U.S. towns of 17,000 to 33,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Colleyville TX | 25,727 | $218K | 2.5% | 3.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Corinth TX | 25,297 | $121K | 3.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,524 | Reedley CA | 26,982 | $63K | 22.3% | 13.4% | 20% | C− |
| 1,525 | Atwater CA | 32,133 | $64K | 21.0% | 12.3% | 11% | C− |
| 1,526 | Alton TX | 24,138 | $53K | 27.5% | 8.3% | 2% | C− |
| 1,527 | Big Spring TX | 22,290 | $68K | 17.1% | 6.6% | 31% | C− |
| 1,528 | Michigan City IN | 31,338 | $53K | 19.7% | 9.1% | 32% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,642 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Alton, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Bordering towns draw 24% of Alton’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Alton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alton | – | C− | C | 24 min | $52,715 |
| West Sharyland | under 2% | C+ | D− | 25 min | $46,863 |
| McAllen | 24% | C | B | 22 min | $61,579 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to McAllen. Darker towns draw more of Alton’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 Alton: questions
What is the median household income in Alton?
$52,715 (±$6,981) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alton?
27.5%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alton?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alton work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are McAllen (24%, 6 mi), Mission (18%, 6 mi), Edinburg (11%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alton walkable?
Alton is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alton
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.