State Highway 29 Bridge at the Colorado River · Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Buchanan Dam has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
120 jobs are based in Buchanan Dam for 575 working residents. Buchanan Dam grades D− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Measured by household income, Buchanan Dam is behind 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Buchanan Dam apart
Buchanan Dam’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Buchanan Dam is Austin, 55 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (126) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
54% 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 ↓
Buchanan Dam is a place people come home to
There are 120 jobs based in Buchanan Dam, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Buchanan Dam has about 1,100 people in it, 30% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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; with 575 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Buchanan Dam’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Buchanan Dam is better than 4% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Buchanan Dam’s grade up ($56,429, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 4% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Buchanan Dam’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Buchanan Dam could be anywhere from D− to D.
Where in the region Buchanan Dam works
About 54% 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 Buchanan Dam, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 557 residents head out to work, 18 work right here, and 102 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Buchanan Dam on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
22% of working residents work in Austin
Where Buchanan Dam clocks in
22% of workers
6% 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 Buchanan Dam: what the 120 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Buchanan Dam, 2013 → 2023: 255 → 120. 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 Buchanan Dam’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Buchanan Dam’s commute takes about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Buchanan Dam workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 576 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.
Buchanan Dam is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Buchanan Dam is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.0% across Texas, on an EPA index of 5.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 645 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). 11.0% of Buchanan Dam households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Buchanan Dam’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,000, and where Buchanan Dam sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Seis Lagos TX | 1,391 | $249K | 1.2% | 4.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Rollingwood TX | 1,466 | $240K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| 26 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,990 | Harrison Township OH | 1,556 | $46K | 22.9% | 6.4% | 1% | D− |
| 4,991 | Peach Springs AZ | 1,234 | $60K | 40.7% | 18.1% | 19% | D− |
| 4,992 | Buchanan Dam TX | 1,513 | $56K | 23.1% | 0.0% | 3% | D− |
| 4,993 | McCrory AR | 1,440 | $44K | 19.4% | 3.4% | 21% | D− |
| 4,994 | Chester GA | 1,476 | $56K | 38.3% | 3.4% | 0% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,397 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Buchanan Dam, 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 Buchanan Dam: questions
What is the median household income in Buchanan Dam?
$56,429 (±$17,266) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Buchanan Dam?
23.1%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Buchanan Dam?
30 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Buchanan Dam work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Austin (22%, 55 mi), Marble Falls (6%, 20 mi), Burnet (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Buchanan Dam walkable?
Buchanan Dam is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Buchanan Dam without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Buchanan Dam, from the people who make the trip.
More of Buchanan Dam
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.