Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0There are 1.8 jobs in Austin for every working resident, and 512,180 people commute in
Austin has 803,922 jobs, against 448,411 working residents. About two in three work in Austin; the top destination outside it is Houston (3%, 146 miles). Home is the office for 31% of workers, against 14% across Texas.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Austin and work: the main findings
A lot of Austin works from home
31% of Austin workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Time on the road ↓
Austin is where the jobs are
Austin has 803,922 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Most jobs in Austin pay over $40,000 a year
74% of the jobs based in Austin pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Austin has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Austin went from 564,985 in 2013 to 803,922 in 2023, +42%. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Austin’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Austin is better than 68% of U.S. towns, #211 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Austin’s grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.0%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Austin could be anywhere from B to B+.
Commuting from Austin: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Austin workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 401,455 commuters (the 31% 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.
Austin on a workday afternoon
On a workday 156,669 residents head out to work and 291,742 work right here.
About 1,358,000 people are in Austin on a workday afternoon, 35% more than live here.
1.8 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.
74% of the jobs in Austin pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Austin, 2013 → 2023: 564,985 → 803,922. 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 Austin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Austin’s workers come from
Where Austin clocks in
3% 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.
Austin’s commute, mile by mile
About 19% 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.
Austin is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 579,181 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 68% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 29% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 13.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% 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). 7.1% of Austin households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Austin’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Austin next to U.S. towns of 702,000 to 1,354,000: 6th of 15 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hempstead NY | 795,734 | $141K | 5.9% | 5.2% | 28% | A |
| 2 | San Jose CA | 989,814 | $146K | 8.1% | 5.1% | 36% | A− |
| 3 | Seattle WA | 784,777 | $124K | 9.9% | 4.6% | 60% | A− |
| 4 | San Francisco CA | 826,079 | $141K | 11.2% | 6.1% | 57% | B+ |
| 5 | Denver CO | 740,613 | $95K | 11.2% | 4.9% | 45% | B+ |
| 6 | Austin TX | 1,002,632 | $94K | 12.0% | 4.7% | 65% | B+ |
| 7 | Charlotte NC | 964,784 | $82K | 11.7% | 4.6% | 64% | B |
| 8 | Fort Worth TX | 1,028,117 | $80K | 13.1% | 4.8% | 37% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Dallas TX | 1,329,491 | $71K | 16.7% | 4.9% | 43% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Columbus OH | 938,396 | $66K | 18.1% | 5.1% | 52% | B− |
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 Austin, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Next door to Austin
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Austin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin | – | B+ | A | 24 min | $93,658 |
| Cedar Park | 1% | A | B+ | 26 min | $129,545 |
| West Lake Hills | under 1% | A | B+ | 17 min | $198,125 |
| Barton Creek | under 1% | A+ | B− | 22 min | $203,947 |
| Rollingwood | under 1% | A+ | B+ | 17 min | $240,114 |
| Wells Branch | under 1% | B+ | B | 22 min | $66,656 |
| Brushy Creek | under 1% | A | C+ | 24 min | $138,589 |
| Lost Creek | under 1% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Round Rock | 3% | A− | B | 25 min | $99,287 |
| San Leanna | under 1% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Manchaca | under 1% | A+ | B | 29 min | $155,313 |
Same-state neighbors only. Lost Creek: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. San Leanna: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Round Rock. Darker towns draw more of Austin’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 Austin: questions
What is the median household income in Austin?
$93,658 (±$1,670) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Austin?
12.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Austin?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 31% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Austin work?
65% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (3%, 146 mi), Round Rock (3%, 17 mi), San Antonio (3%, 74 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Austin walkable?
Austin is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Austin without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 29% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Austin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Austin
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.