Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Bedford are higher than in 61% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Bedford is better than 75% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (B−). Below the poverty line: 7.3% of residents, next to 13.8% across Texas. Only 7% work in Bedford itself; outside it, Fort Worth draws the most (16%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Bedford: the figures worth knowing
Bedford trades workers with the towns around it
Bedford has about as many jobs (22,210) as working residents (25,214), but they are mostly different people: 23,417 residents leave for work each day while 20,413 people come in. Only 8% of the jobs in Bedford are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Bedford and Fort Worth trade workers both ways
Fort Worth is the top workplace for Bedford residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in Bedford come from (18% 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 Bedford’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Job access by car holds Bedford’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bedford could be anywhere from B to A.
How many people are in Bedford by day
On a workday 23,417 residents head out to work, 1,797 work right here, and 20,413 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 (0.88 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.
Where people from Bedford work
Where Bedford clocks in
16% of workers
9% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
22,210 jobs are based in Bedford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bedford, 2013 → 2023: 21,425 → 22,210. 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 Bedford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Bedford
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bedford workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 21,075 commuters (the 18% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Bedford
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 trips from Bedford start in a car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% 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 25,559 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 3.8% of Bedford households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Bedford’s commuters take a bus or train.
361st of 909: where Bedford ranks among U.S. towns of 34,000 to 65,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Keller TX | 46,078 | $175K | 3.4% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Coppell TX | 41,386 | $146K | 5.4% | 2.6% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 359 | North Brunswick Township NJ | 45,097 | $121K | 6.9% | 7.2% | 7% | A− |
| 360 | Addison IL | 35,758 | $90K | 8.7% | 4.7% | 10% | B+ |
| 361 | Bedford TX | 47,958 | $84K | 7.3% | 4.8% | 7% | B+ |
| 362 | Bella Vista AR | 34,518 | $88K | 3.6% | 4.0% | 6% | B+ |
| 363 | Wellington FL | 62,662 | $116K | 7.8% | 4.7% | 13% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 909 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Bedford, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Work in the towns next to Bedford
The biggest share goes to Hurst (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bedford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford | – | B+ | B− | 25 min | $83,971 |
| Euless | under 2% | B+ | B− | 25 min | $82,167 |
| Hurst | 2% | B+ | B+ | 25 min | $72,210 |
| Colleyville | under 2% | A+ | B+ | 24 min | $218,328 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bedford’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 Bedford: questions
What is the median household income in Bedford?
$83,971 (±$3,905) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bedford?
7.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bedford?
25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bedford work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Worth (16%, 13 mi), Dallas (12%, 22 mi), Irving (9%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bedford walkable?
Bedford is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bedford without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bedford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bedford
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.