Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Households in Cameron earn less than those in 70% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Cameron are C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Poverty touches 19.6% of residents; Texas has 13.8%. About one in four stay in Cameron for work; outside it, Temple is the main destination (14%, 30 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Cameron apart
Cameron’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Cameron is Temple, 30 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (323) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
39% 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 ↓
Commutes from Cameron are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 38 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.
Why Cameron gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cameron is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #480 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Cameron’s grade up (3.8%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cameron could be anywhere from D to B−.
Short hops and long hauls from Cameron
About 39% 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.
How long Cameron spends getting to work: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cameron workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,148 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.
Cameron quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,778 residents head out to work, 581 work right here, and 1,135 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,800 people are in Cameron on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.73 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 towns that employ Cameron’s residents
Where Cameron clocks in
11% 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.
What work there is in Cameron: 1,716 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cameron, 2013 → 2023: 1,825 → 1,716. 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 Cameron’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Cameron is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cameron is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #71 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Cameron 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 2,384 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). 7.4% of Cameron households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cameron’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Cameron is 2,868th of 3,612 U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,400
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Garden Ridge TX | 4,371 | $177K | 0.4% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,866 | Woodstock VA | 6,002 | $76K | 22.1% | 5.6% | 21% | C− |
| 2,867 | Mendota IL | 6,894 | $52K | 14.1% | 4.8% | 25% | C− |
| 2,868 | Cameron TX | 5,489 | $62K | 19.6% | 3.8% | 25% | C− |
| 2,869 | Benton City WA | 4,019 | $64K | 11.3% | 7.6% | 6% | C− |
| 2,870 | Roscommon Township MI | 4,520 | $53K | 12.3% | 3.6% | 18% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,612 | 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 Cameron, 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 Cameron: questions
What is the median household income in Cameron?
$62,443 (±$6,094) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cameron?
19.6%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cameron?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cameron work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Temple (14%, 30 mi), Austin (11%, 60 mi), Houston (4%, 120 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cameron walkable?
Cameron is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cameron 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 Cameron, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cameron
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.