Photo: Billy Hathorn at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Borger’s household incomes are lower than in 71% of U.S. towns
Borger grades C for jobs and income and B for walkability. 14.9% of residents live below the poverty line, against 13.8% across Texas. Home is the office for 6% of workers, against 14% across Texas.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Borger, in brief
Borger’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Borger is Amarillo, 40 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (659) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Most jobs in Borger go to people who live here
Of the 4,772 jobs based in Borger, 47% are held by Borger residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Borger are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. 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 Borger
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Borger is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #425 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Borger’s grade up (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Borger could be anywhere from D to B−.
Where in the region Borger works
About 20% 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 leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 3,064 residents head out to work, 2,219 work right here, and 2,553 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 (0.90 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.
Commuting from Borger: about 20 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Borger workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,921 commuters (the 6% 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.
12% of working residents work in Amarillo
Where Borger clocks in
12% 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.
28% of the jobs in Borger make or build things
4,772 jobs are based in Borger.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Borger, 2013 → 2023: 6,196 → 4,772. 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 Borger’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Borger, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Borger is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns, #215 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Borger 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 5,238 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). 5.3% of Borger households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Borger’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,100th of 2,695: where Borger ranks among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Lucas TX | 8,896 | $221K | 1.3% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Lantana TX | 12,766 | $199K | 0.6% | 2.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,098 | Barre VT | 8,214 | $66K | 17.3% | 4.5% | 21% | C |
| 2,099 | West Vero Corridor FL | 10,461 | $62K | 10.8% | 5.7% | 5% | C |
| 2,100 | Borger TX | 11,842 | $62K | 14.9% | 3.6% | 42% | C |
| 2,101 | Red Hill SC | 15,920 | $68K | 19.1% | 5.9% | 5% | C |
| 2,102 | Freeport TX | 10,508 | $61K | 13.7% | 5.7% | 11% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Borger, 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 Borger: questions
What is the median household income in Borger?
$61,583 (±$9,045) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Borger?
14.9%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Borger?
20 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Borger work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Amarillo (12%, 40 mi), Lubbock (2%, 148 mi), Cactus (2%, 43 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Borger walkable?
Borger is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Borger without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Borger, from the people who make the trip.
More of Borger
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.