Central Gardens has 1.8 jobs for every working resident: 3,382 people commute in to work
Home is the office for 4% of workers (Texas 14%). Central Gardens has 3,444 jobs for 1,866 working residents. Jobs and income earn Central Gardens B−; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Central Gardens apart on work
Central Gardens makes and builds things
62% of the jobs based in Central Gardens are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Central Gardens residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Central Gardens 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 ↓
Central Gardens is where the jobs are
Central Gardens has 3,444 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 5,600 people are in town, 40% more than the 4,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Central Gardens and Beaumont trade workers both ways
Beaumont is the top workplace for Central Gardens residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Central Gardens come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most jobs in Central Gardens pay over $40,000 a year
75% of the jobs based in Central Gardens pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Central Gardens
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Central Gardens is better than 51% of U.S. towns, #291 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Central Gardens’ grade up (ahead of 72% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Central Gardens could be anywhere from C− to A+.
Making and building: 62% of jobs based in Central Gardens
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Central Gardens, 2013 → 2023: 3,509 → 3,444. 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 Central Gardens’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Central Gardens takes about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Central Gardens workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,979 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 daily commute in and out of Central Gardens
On a workday 1,804 residents head out to work and 62 work right here.
About 5,600 people are in Central Gardens on a workday afternoon, 40% more 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.
Commuting in to Central Gardens: where workers come from
Where Central Gardens clocks in
22% of workers
12% 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.
The commute from Central Gardens, by distance
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.
In Central Gardens, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Central Gardens is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns, #386 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Central Gardens 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 2,065 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). 6.2% of Central Gardens households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Central Gardens’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,177 U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,400, Central Gardens comes 2,132nd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| 4 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 5 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,130 | Haring Township MI | 3,626 | $75K | 8.4% | 3.1% | 9% | B− |
| 2,131 | North Brooksville FL | 4,227 | $78K | 14.7% | 2.3% | 1% | B− |
| 2,132 | Central Gardens TX | 3,976 | $84K | 12.7% | 5.4% | 3% | B− |
| 2,133 | Springville NY | 4,194 | $72K | 10.5% | 3.4% | 21% | B− |
| 2,134 | Northumberland NY | 5,181 | $91K | 7.7% | 5.9% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,177 | 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 Central Gardens, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Work next door: 12% of Central Gardens’ workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Central Gardens workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Gardens | – | B− | C+ | 16 min | $83,750 |
| Nederland | 12% | B | B+ | 19 min | $77,570 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Nederland. Darker towns draw more of Central Gardens’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Central Gardens: questions
What is the median household income in Central Gardens?
$83,750 (±$35,331) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Central Gardens?
12.7%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Central Gardens?
16 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Central Gardens work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Beaumont (22%, 10 mi), Port Arthur (12%, 10 mi), Nederland (12%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Central Gardens walkable?
Central Gardens is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Central Gardens without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Central Gardens, from the people who make the trip.
More of Central Gardens
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.