Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Arlington (5.7%) is higher than in 71% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 27 minutes each way, about the same as across Texas. For jobs and income Arlington is better than 55% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (B). About one in five stay in Arlington for work; outside it, Fort Worth is the main destination (15%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Arlington at work: what stands out
Arlington trades workers with the towns around it
Arlington has about as many jobs (170,979) as working residents (177,406), but they are mostly different people: 138,838 residents leave for work each day while 132,411 people come in. Only 23% of the jobs in Arlington are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Arlington and Fort Worth trade workers both ways
Fort Worth is the top workplace for Arlington residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Arlington come from (14% 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.
How Arlington earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Arlington’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Arlington could be anywhere from B− to B.
Who leaves Arlington for work, and who comes in
On a workday 138,838 residents head out to work, 38,568 work right here, and 132,411 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 (0.96 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.
The towns that employ Arlington’s residents
Where Arlington clocks in
15% of workers
6% 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 Arlington: what the 170,979 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arlington, 2013 → 2023: 146,009 → 170,979. 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 Arlington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 27 minutes from Arlington
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arlington workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 176,042 commuters (the 13% 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 it is to work from Arlington
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.
Driving is how Arlington gets around
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% 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 202,653 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 2% 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 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 41% 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). 5.0% of Arlington households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Arlington’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Arlington places 25th of 47 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 281,000 to 543,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 2 | Gilbert AZ | 287,285 | $123K | 5.3% | 3.5% | 15% | A |
| 3 | Plano TX | 293,028 | $112K | 6.8% | 4.0% | 23% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Omaha NE | 488,797 | $73K | 13.5% | 4.2% | 73% | B |
| 24 | Long Beach CA | 450,469 | $87K | 14.8% | 6.5% | 21% | B |
| 25 | Arlington TX | 402,134 | $75K | 12.9% | 5.7% | 22% | B− |
| 26 | Sacramento CA | 536,449 | $87K | 13.9% | 6.6% | 39% | B− |
| 27 | Atlanta GA | 529,110 | $86K | 16.9% | 5.9% | 43% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Corpus Christi TX | 317,247 | $67K | 17.1% | 5.1% | 61% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Cleveland OH | 363,608 | $41K | 30.6% | 10.8% | 42% | C− |
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 Arlington, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
24% of Arlington works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Arlington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arlington | – | B− | B | 27 min | $75,171 |
| Fort Worth | 15% | B | B+ | 27 min | $79,507 |
| Grand Prairie | 6% | B | C+ | 28 min | $81,619 |
| Kennedale | under 2% | A | C+ | 32 min | $118,794 |
| Mansfield | 3% | A | C+ | 29 min | $121,126 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Fort Worth. Darker towns draw more of Arlington’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 Arlington: questions
What is the median household income in Arlington?
$75,171 (±$1,543) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arlington?
12.9%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Arlington?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Arlington work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Worth (15%, 14 mi), Dallas (14%, 22 mi), Irving (6%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Arlington walkable?
Arlington is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Arlington without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Arlington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arlington
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.