Jobs and earnings in Alvin, and the trip to work
7% of workers have no commute at all (Texas 14%). Jobs and income earn Alvin B; getting around on foot earns it C. About one in seven work in Alvin; the top destination outside it is Houston (30%, 27 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Alvin
Alvin trades workers with the towns around it
Alvin has about as many jobs (14,085) as working residents (12,800), but they are mostly different people: 10,826 residents leave for work each day while 12,111 people come in. Only 14% of the jobs in Alvin are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Alvin and Houston trade workers both ways
Houston is the top workplace for Alvin residents (30%) and also where the most people who work in Alvin come from (10% of its jobs). 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 Alvin’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Alvin is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #226 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Alvin’s grade up (ahead of 88% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($71,477, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Alvin could be anywhere from B− to A−.
In and out of Alvin on a workday
On a workday 10,826 residents head out to work, 1,974 work right here, and 12,111 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 (1.10 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.
Out of Alvin to work: where people go
Where Alvin clocks in
30% of workers
5% 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.
What Alvin’s employers do
14,085 jobs are based in Alvin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alvin, 2013 → 2023: 13,582 → 14,085. 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 Alvin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Alvin takes about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alvin workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,432 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.
How far Alvin’s workers travel
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 Alvin commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Alvin is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns, #426 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below 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 13,326 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). 5.9% of Alvin households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Alvin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Alvin is 758th among 1,415 U.S. towns of 21,000 to 41,000
| # | 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 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 4 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Colleyville TX | 25,727 | $218K | 2.5% | 3.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Corinth TX | 25,297 | $121K | 3.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 756 | Fishkill NY | 22,937 | $101K | 7.7% | 6.0% | 9% | B |
| 757 | Snellville GA | 22,478 | $90K | 8.9% | 5.9% | 5% | B |
| 758 | Alvin TX | 30,115 | $71K | 9.2% | 4.1% | 15% | B |
| 759 | Woodlawn VA | 21,194 | $92K | 10.6% | 5.7% | 1% | B |
| 760 | West St. Paul MN | 21,950 | $68K | 8.9% | 4.5% | 8% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,415 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Alvin, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
The towns around Alvin
The biggest share goes to Pearland (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Alvin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alvin | – | B | C | 29 min | $71,477 |
| Manvel | under 2% | A− | C | 35 min | $118,808 |
| Pearland | 5% | A+ | B− | 33 min | $118,842 |
| Iowa Colony | under 2% | A | D | 36 min | $144,092 |
| Hitchcock | under 2% | B− | C− | 29 min | $74,157 |
| Rosharon | under 2% | A | D− | 36 min | $102,678 |
| Friendswood | 2% | A | B | 29 min | $126,508 |
| Hillcrest Village | under 2% | — | — | 37 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Hillcrest Village: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Alvin’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 Alvin: questions
What is the median household income in Alvin?
$71,477 (±$5,541) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alvin?
9.2%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alvin?
29 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alvin work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (30%, 27 mi), Pearland (5%, 11 mi), League City (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alvin walkable?
Alvin is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alvin without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alvin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alvin
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.