Combes has lower household incomes than 92% of U.S. towns
27.2% of residents live below the poverty line, where Texas as a whole has 13.8%. For jobs and income Combes is better than 40% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (B−). 8% of workers have no commute at all, where Texas as a whole has 14%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Combes in brief
Fewer jobs are based in Combes than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Combes fell from 708 in 2013 to 349 in 2023, −51%. 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 ↓
Combes and Harlingen trade workers both ways
Harlingen is the top workplace for Combes residents (43%) and also where the most people who work in Combes come from (26% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Combes are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. 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 Combes
Unemployment holds Combes’ grade up (1.6%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Combes could be anywhere from C to B.
Combes works in goods: 34% of its jobs
349 jobs are based in Combes.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Combes, 2013 → 2023: 708 → 349. 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 Combes’s own residents hold wherever they work.
43% of working residents work in Harlingen
Where Combes clocks in
43% of workers
7% 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.
About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of Texas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Combes workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,275 commuters (the 8% 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 and out of Combes on a workday
On a workday 1,072 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 343 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Combes on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.32 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Combes
About 20% 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 Combes, the car does most of the work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.0% across Texas, on an EPA index of 5.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,385 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). 4.2% of Combes households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Combes’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Combes ranks: 2,693rd of 4,453 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,691 | Eastover NC | 3,743 | $85K | 13.4% | 6.9% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,692 | Lockland OH | 3,499 | $58K | 9.2% | 10.6% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,693 | Combes TX | 3,255 | $46K | 27.2% | 1.6% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,694 | Pine Creek Township PA | 3,425 | $59K | 14.9% | 2.0% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,695 | Buckhorn CA | 3,504 | $90K | 10.9% | 3.7% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,453 | 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 Combes, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Bordering towns draw 43% of Combes’ workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Combes workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combes | – | C+ | B− | 17 min | $45,504 |
| Harlingen | 43% | C | B | 18 min | $53,645 |
| Primera | under 2% | B | C− | 20 min | $80,116 |
| Lasana | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lasana: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Harlingen. Darker towns draw more of Combes’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 Combes: questions
What is the median household income in Combes?
$45,504 (±$10,404) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Combes?
27.2%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Combes?
17 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Combes work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harlingen (43%, 4 mi), Brownsville (7%, 23 mi), McAllen (3%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Combes walkable?
Combes is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Combes without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Combes, from the people who make the trip.
More of Combes
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.