Photo: Billy Hathorn at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Center has higher unemployment (10.3%) than 95% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 90% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn Center D−; getting around on foot earns it B. Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers; Texas has 14%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Center in brief
Center is where the jobs are
Center has 5,901 jobs, 2.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 9,000 people are in town, 72% more than the 5,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Center are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Center makes and builds things
48% of the jobs based in Center are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Center residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 42%. The jobs ↓
Center draws workers from far and wide
The 5,901 jobs in Center are filled from a wide area. Center’s own residents hold 18% and the ten next-biggest home towns 14%; the other 68% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Few Center workers work from home
Only 2% 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Center
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Center is better than 4% of U.S. towns, #624 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Center’s grade up (ahead of 27% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Center could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Who works in Center, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,086 residents head out to work, 1,063 work right here, and 4,838 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,000 people are in Center on a workday afternoon, 72% more than live here.
2.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
About 16 minutes each way for Center’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Center workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,896 commuters (the 2% 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.
In Center, 48% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
5,901 jobs are based in Center.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Center, 2013 → 2023: 4,994 → 5,901. 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 Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Center’s workforce comes from
Where Center clocks in
5% 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.
Center’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Most trips from Center start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Center is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns, #184 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Center 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 1,932 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). 5.1% of Center households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Center’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Center sits among U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 7 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,482 | Grayson KY | 3,728 | $28K | 37.9% | 7.6% | 25% | D− |
| 3,483 | Barnesville OH | 3,861 | $42K | 26.2% | 7.0% | 23% | D− |
| 3,484 | Center TX | 5,246 | $48K | 26.1% | 10.3% | 49% | D− |
| 3,485 | Brookside Township IL | 4,522 | $45K | 25.3% | 10.2% | 6% | D− |
| 3,486 | Whitehall NY | 3,999 | $54K | 20.7% | 9.2% | 16% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,582 | 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 Center, 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 Center: questions
What is the median household income in Center?
$48,293 (±$11,954) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Center?
26.1%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Center?
16 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Center work?
49% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (5%, 156 mi), Nacogdoches (4%, 30 mi), Lufkin (3%, 46 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Center walkable?
Center is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Center without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Center, from the people who make the trip.
More of Center
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.