Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0At 2.1%, unemployment in Burnet is lower than in 83% of U.S. towns
About one in seven stay in Burnet for work; outside it, Austin is the main destination (16%, 42 miles). The two grades for Burnet are B for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. At 27 minutes each way, commutes from Burnet run about the Texas average.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Burnet, in brief
Burnet trades workers with the towns around it
Burnet has about as many jobs (3,236) as working residents (3,139), but they are mostly different people: 2,734 residents leave for work each day while 2,831 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in Burnet are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Burnet’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Burnet is Austin, 43 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (508) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% 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.
Why Burnet gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Burnet is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #230 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Burnet’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 27% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Burnet could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Burnet by day and by night
On a workday 2,734 residents head out to work, 405 work right here, and 2,831 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 (1.03 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 far Burnet’s workers travel
About 30% 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.
The places Burnet commutes to
Where Burnet clocks in
16% of workers
9% of workers
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.
Jobs in Burnet: what the 3,236 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Burnet, 2013 → 2023: 2,710 → 3,236. 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 Burnet’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Burnet: about 27 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Burnet workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,713 commuters (the 10% 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.
Few in Burnet walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Burnet is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns, #393 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.0% across Texas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,009 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). 6.8% of Burnet households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Burnet’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,900 to 9,400, Burnet ranks 1,382nd of 3,167 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,380 | Bigfork MT | 5,565 | $85K | 5.7% | 1.8% | 31% | B |
| 1,381 | Lynwood IL | 9,297 | $85K | 9.2% | 5.7% | 2% | B |
| 1,382 | Burnet TX | 6,939 | $88K | 8.1% | 2.1% | 13% | B |
| 1,383 | Clear Lake IA | 7,601 | $79K | 8.3% | 2.4% | 26% | B |
| 1,384 | Savannah MO | 5,107 | $63K | 4.4% | 2.4% | 12% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,167 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Burnet, 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 Burnet: questions
What is the median household income in Burnet?
$87,587 (±$12,768) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Burnet?
8.1%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Burnet?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Burnet work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Austin (16%, 42 mi), Marble Falls (9%, 13 mi), Round Rock (3%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Burnet walkable?
Burnet is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Burnet without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Burnet, from the people who make the trip.
More of Burnet
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.