Work means Waco for about two in five of Bellmead’s working residents
For 3% of workers, the job is at home (Texas 14%). Measured by household income, Bellmead is behind 85% of U.S. towns. Only 5% work in Bellmead; the top destination outside it is Waco (40%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Bellmead in brief
A big share show a job far from home
38% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Few Bellmead workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Bellmead
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bellmead is better than 42% of U.S. towns, #334 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Bellmead’s grade up (2.1%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (24.9%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bellmead could be anywhere from C to B.
The places Bellmead commutes to
Where Bellmead clocks in
4% 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 distance from Bellmead to work
About 38% 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.
About 23 minutes to work from Bellmead
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bellmead workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,770 commuters (the 3% 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.
Who commutes out of Bellmead, and who commutes in
On a workday 4,152 residents head out to work, 209 work right here, and 3,049 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,500 people are in Bellmead on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.75 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.
The 3,258 jobs based in Bellmead
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bellmead, 2013 → 2023: 3,211 → 3,258. 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 Bellmead’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Driving is how Bellmead gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bellmead is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns, #443 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% 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 3,897 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). 2.6% of Bellmead households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bellmead’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bellmead next to U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000: 1,914th of 2,878 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Lucas TX | 8,896 | $221K | 1.3% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,912 | Hastings NY | 9,438 | $84K | 10.5% | 7.3% | 9% | C+ |
| 1,913 | Island Creek Township OH | 9,958 | $68K | 7.0% | 5.0% | 12% | C+ |
| 1,914 | Bellmead TX | 10,592 | $52K | 24.9% | 2.1% | 5% | C+ |
| 1,915 | Putnam CT | 9,402 | $71K | 11.5% | 4.4% | 22% | C+ |
| 1,916 | Great Barrington MA | 7,239 | $84K | 9.2% | 5.0% | 32% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Bellmead, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Next door is work for 42% of Bellmead
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bellmead workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellmead | – | C+ | C | 23 min | $52,075 |
| Waco | 40% | C | B+ | 19 min | $54,365 |
| Lacy-Lakeview | 2% | C | C− | 28 min | $56,924 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Waco. Darker towns draw more of Bellmead’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 Bellmead: questions
What is the median household income in Bellmead?
$52,075 (±$9,901) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bellmead?
24.9%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bellmead?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bellmead work?
5% work in town.
Is Bellmead walkable?
Bellmead is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bellmead 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 Bellmead, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bellmead
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.