Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Brady’s household incomes are lower than in 92% of U.S. towns
Brady grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability. The poverty rate is 14.0%; Texas has 13.8%. About two in five work in Brady; the top destination outside it is San Angelo (4%, 69 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Brady, in a few figures
Commutes from Brady are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Brady than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Brady fell from 2,984 in 2013 to 1,752 in 2023, −41%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Most jobs in Brady go to people who live here
Of the 1,752 jobs based in Brady, 47% are held by Brady residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
40% 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.
Jobs & income in Brady: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brady is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #617 of 642 in Texas. The poverty rate holds Brady’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down (10.0%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brady could be anywhere from D− to C.
About 18 minutes each way for Brady’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brady workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,883 commuters (the 17% 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.
Inside Brady’s 1,752 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brady, 2013 → 2023: 2,984 → 1,752. 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 Brady’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Brady on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,121 residents head out to work, 820 work right here, and 932 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.
How many miles Brady commutes
About 40% 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.
Where Brady goes to work
Where Brady clocks in
3% 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.
In Brady, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brady is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #44 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Brady 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 2,278 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). 6.1% of Brady households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Brady’s commuters take a bus or train.
Brady and other U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 8 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Garden Ridge TX | 4,371 | $177K | 0.4% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,552 | Nashville AR | 3,945 | $41K | 27.3% | 6.9% | 34% | D |
| 3,553 | Georgetown OH | 4,450 | $42K | 38.4% | 5.4% | 17% | D |
| 3,554 | Brady TX | 4,980 | $46K | 14.0% | 10.0% | 42% | D |
| 3,555 | Weston WV | 3,736 | $52K | 23.0% | 16.2% | 17% | D |
| 3,556 | Deer Creek Township IN | 3,538 | $42K | 23.4% | 12.5% | 1% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,692 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Brady, 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 Brady: questions
What is the median household income in Brady?
$46,250 (±$19,269) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brady?
14.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brady?
18 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brady work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Angelo (4%, 69 mi), Mason (3%, 26 mi), Lubbock (3%, 225 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brady walkable?
Brady is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brady without a car?
0% 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 Brady, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brady
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.