Photo: NativeTexan55 · CC BY-SA 4.0At 2.6%, unemployment in Belton is lower than in 76% of U.S. towns
Belton grades B− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 75% of U.S. towns. The average commute takes 23 minutes each way, where Texas has 27 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Belton at work: what stands out
Belton and Temple trade workers both ways
Temple is the top workplace for Belton residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Belton come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Belton has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Belton went from 8,750 in 2013 to 12,439 in 2023, +42%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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 ↓
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.
The four measures behind Belton’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Belton is better than 47% of U.S. towns, #310 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Belton’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (16.7%, 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, Belton could be anywhere from C to B.
24% of working residents work in Temple
Where Belton clocks in
8% of workers
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.
Jobs in Belton: what the 12,439 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Belton, 2013 → 2023: 8,750 → 12,439. 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 Belton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Belton
About 33% 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.
Who works in Belton, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 7,385 residents head out to work, 1,454 work right here, and 10,985 people come in from elsewhere.
About 30,000 people are in Belton on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.41 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.
Each way, about 23 minutes from Belton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Belton workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,284 commuters (the 11% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Belton
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,385 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). 5.6% of Belton households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Belton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Belton next to U.S. towns of 18,000 to 35,000: 1,107th of 1,576 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Colleyville TX | 25,727 | $218K | 2.5% | 3.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Corinth TX | 25,297 | $121K | 3.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,105 | Prunedale CA | 19,723 | $104K | 11.1% | 8.5% | 6% | B− |
| 1,106 | West Mifflin PA | 18,707 | $77K | 11.2% | 8.2% | 10% | B− |
| 1,107 | Belton TX | 25,964 | $59K | 16.7% | 2.6% | 16% | B− |
| 1,108 | Gibsonton FL | 18,754 | $84K | 17.2% | 5.4% | 3% | B− |
| 1,109 | South Lake Tahoe CA | 21,115 | $82K | 9.3% | 3.6% | 37% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,576 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Belton, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
24% of Belton works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Temple. Darker towns draw more of Belton’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 Belton: questions
What is the median household income in Belton?
$59,130 (±$5,992) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Belton?
16.7%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Belton?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Belton work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Temple (24%, 6 mi), Austin (8%, 55 mi), Killeen (4%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Belton walkable?
Belton is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Belton 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 Belton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Belton
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.