Old Reagan County Courthouse · Photo: BlueSteel75 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0At 5.6%, unemployment in Big Lake is higher than in 69% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers, next to 14% for Texas as a whole. The two grades for Big Lake are C− for jobs and income and A for walkability. About one in four stay in Big Lake for work; outside it, Midland is the main destination (10%, 69 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Big Lake stands out on work
A big share show a job far from home
61% 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 ↓
Big Lake’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Big Lake is Midland, 69 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (133) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Big Lake are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Big Lake 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 ↓
Big Lake makes and builds things
37% of the jobs based in Big Lake are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Big Lake residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 40%. 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.
Big Lake’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Big Lake is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #519 of 642 in Texas. Household income holds Big Lake’s grade up ($71,471, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Big Lake could be anywhere from D− to B.
Short hops and long hauls from Big Lake
About 61% 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.
Each way, about 19 minutes from Big Lake
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Big Lake workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,168 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.
Making and building: 37% of jobs based in Big Lake
1,008 jobs are based in Big Lake.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Big Lake, 2013 → 2023: 919 → 1,008. 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 Big Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Big Lake: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 985 residents head out to work, 383 work right here, and 625 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,400 people are in Big Lake on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.74 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 places Big Lake commutes to
Where Big Lake clocks in
10% of workers
8% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Big Lake
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Big Lake is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #11 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Big Lake near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,206 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). 2.1% of Big Lake households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Big Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
Big Lake places 3,995th of 5,131 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,993 | Shelby MT | 3,313 | $58K | 13.8% | 3.7% | 41% | C− |
| 3,994 | Auburn NE | 3,498 | $58K | 14.1% | 4.1% | 32% | C− |
| 3,995 | Big Lake TX | 2,783 | $71K | 12.2% | 5.6% | 28% | C− |
| 3,996 | Shandaken NY | 2,813 | $66K | 19.9% | 3.5% | 17% | C− |
| 3,997 | Tahoka TX | 2,533 | $62K | 18.3% | 5.9% | 20% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,131 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Big Lake, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
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 Big Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Big Lake?
$71,471 (±$14,023) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Big Lake?
12.2%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Big Lake?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Big Lake work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Midland (10%, 69 mi), Odessa (8%, 71 mi), San Angelo (4%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Big Lake walkable?
Big Lake is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Big Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Big Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Big Lake
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.