Work means Houston for about half of Channelview’s working residents
Household incomes here are lower than in 67% of U.S. towns. The two grades for Channelview are C+ for jobs and income and C for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers, where Texas as a whole has 14%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Channelview apart on work
Nearly half of Channelview works in Houston
7,715 working residents, 46%, have their main job in Houston, 17 miles away across the town line. That’s 8 times as many as work in Channelview itself. The commute map ↓
Most jobs in Channelview pay over $40,000 a year
72% of the jobs based in Channelview 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Channelview
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Channelview is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #373 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Channelview’s grade up (ahead of 96% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (20.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Channelview could be anywhere from C to B.
The places Channelview commutes to
Where Channelview clocks in
46% 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.
Goods jobs make up 30% of work in Channelview
11,963 jobs are based in Channelview.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Channelview, 2013 → 2023: 12,647 → 11,963. 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 Channelview’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Channelview
On a workday 15,578 residents head out to work, 1,031 work right here, and 10,932 people come in from elsewhere.
About 39,000 people are in Channelview on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.72 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.
About 30 minutes to work from Channelview
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Channelview workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,881 commuters (the 7% 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.
Half of Channelview commutes less than 16 miles
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 Channelview, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Channelview is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns, #490 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% 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 18,090 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 41% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.0% of Channelview households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Channelview’s commuters take a bus or train.
Channelview places 798th of 985 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 31,000 to 59,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Keller TX | 46,078 | $175K | 3.4% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Coppell TX | 41,386 | $146K | 5.4% | 2.6% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 796 | Greenville TX | 37,069 | $63K | 11.5% | 5.7% | 28% | C+ |
| 797 | Elkhart IN | 54,092 | $51K | 18.2% | 3.9% | 41% | C+ |
| 798 | Channelview TX | 43,605 | $64K | 20.3% | 6.9% | 6% | C+ |
| 799 | Ceres CA | 48,982 | $79K | 15.9% | 10.2% | 12% | C+ |
| 800 | Torrington CT | 35,796 | $71K | 13.7% | 6.8% | 25% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 985 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Channelview, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
The towns next door employ 46% of Channelview
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Channelview workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Channelview | – | C+ | C | 30 min | $64,422 |
| Houston | 46% | C+ | A | 27 min | $64,813 |
| Highlands | under 1% | C+ | B+ | 31 min | $52,167 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Houston. Darker towns draw more of Channelview’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 Channelview: questions
What is the median household income in Channelview?
$64,422 (±$6,665) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Channelview?
20.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Channelview?
30 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Channelview work?
6% work in town.
Is Channelview walkable?
Channelview is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Channelview without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Channelview, from the people who make the trip.
More of Channelview
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.