With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of China works elsewhere
Jobs and income earn China C; getting around on foot earns it D−. Employers in China report 32 jobs, and 440 of its residents work somewhere. Measured by household income, China is behind 81% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
China and work: the main findings
China is a place people come home to
There are 32 jobs based in China, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday China has about 940 people in it, 30% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
China and Beaumont trade workers both ways
Beaumont is the top workplace for China residents (34%) and also where the most people who work in China come from (19% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% 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 ↓
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 440 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why China gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, China is better than 32% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds China’s grade up (ahead of 55% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($55,104, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (9.4%) is left out: China’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, China could be anywhere from D to B+.
How many people are in China by day
On a workday 436 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 28 people come in from elsewhere.
About 940 people are in China on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer 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.
34% of working residents work in Beaumont
Where China clocks in
34% of workers
10% of workers
6% 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 far it is to work from China
About 30% 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.
A place that makes things: 44% of China’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in China, 2013 → 2023: 18 → 32. 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 China’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from China: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of China workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 442 commuters (the 1% 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 commute in China is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, China is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place China 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 445 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 China households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of China’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, China is 2,902nd of 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Seis Lagos TX | 1,391 | $249K | 1.2% | 4.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Rollingwood TX | 1,466 | $240K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| 30 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,900 | Watkins MN | 1,018 | $65K | 11.4% | 4.0% | 4% | C |
| 2,901 | Dawson MN | 1,444 | $69K | 7.6% | 2.5% | 29% | C |
| 2,902 | China TX | 1,343 | $55K | 11.8% | 9.4% | 1% | C |
| 2,903 | Windsor Township IL | 1,343 | $70K | 11.3% | 2.7% | 6% | C |
| 2,904 | Kenduskeag ME | 1,418 | $80K | 15.9% | 2.1% | <1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 China, 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 China: questions
What is the median household income in China?
$55,104 (±$26,177) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in China?
11.8%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from China?
29 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in China work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Beaumont (34%, 12 mi), Houston (10%, 66 mi), Port Arthur (6%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is China walkable?
China is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around China without a car?
0% 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 China, from the people who make the trip.
More of China
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.