Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Canadian trail those of 76% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 6.6%, where Texas as a whole has 13.8%. For jobs and income Canadian is better than 25% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (A−). 4% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Canadian stands out on work
Fewer jobs are based in Canadian than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Canadian fell from 1,390 in 2013 to 773 in 2023, −44%. 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 ↓
Commutes from Canadian are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Canadian workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; with 876 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Canadian
The poverty rate holds Canadian’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 6% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Canadian could be anywhere from D to B.
The kinds of work in Canadian
773 jobs are based in Canadian.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Canadian, 2013 → 2023: 1,390 → 773. 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 Canadian’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Canadian, about 19 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Canadian workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,035 commuters (the 4% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Canadian
On a workday 550 residents head out to work, 326 work right here, and 447 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 (0.88 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.
7% of working residents work in Amarillo
Where Canadian clocks in
7% of workers
2% 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.
How many miles Canadian commutes
About 29% 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.
Canadian is easy on foot, hard by bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.0% across Texas, on an EPA index of 7.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,078 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). 9.6% of Canadian households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Canadian’s commuters take a bus or train.
Canadian places 3,712th of 5,404 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Southside Place TX | 1,916 | $163K | 5.0% | 5.4% | 2% | A+ |
| 24 | Shoreacres TX | 1,535 | $131K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,710 | Seward NY | 1,588 | $87K | 16.4% | 5.4% | 1% | C |
| 3,711 | Moline Acres MO | 2,093 | $55K | 18.9% | 13.4% | 1% | C |
| 3,712 | Canadian TX | 2,129 | $59K | 6.6% | 5.6% | 37% | C |
| 3,713 | Preston Heights IL | 2,449 | $52K | 22.8% | 7.2% | <1% | C |
| 3,714 | Castle Point MO | 2,340 | $38K | 34.1% | 13.4% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Canadian, 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 Canadian: questions
What is the median household income in Canadian?
$58,811 (±$7,577) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Canadian?
6.6%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Canadian?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Canadian work?
37% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Amarillo (7%, 95 mi), Pampa (2%, 41 mi), Lubbock (2%, 183 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Canadian walkable?
Canadian is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Canadian without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Canadian, from the people who make the trip.
More of Canadian
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.