Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Cotulla has lower unemployment (3.0%) than 70% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Cotulla C−; getting around on foot earns it C+. 2% of workers work from home (Texas 14%). About one in three stay in Cotulla for work; outside it, San Antonio is the main destination (13%, 83 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Cotulla: the gist
Cotulla’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Cotulla is San Antonio, 83 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (169) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Cotulla 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
48% 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 ↓
Few Cotulla workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Nearly all the work in Cotulla is services
86% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 9% are in factories, building or farms. 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 Cotulla earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cotulla is better than 23% of U.S. towns, #490 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Cotulla’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (26.7%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cotulla could be anywhere from D− to B.
Near or far: the trip to work from Cotulla
About 48% 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.
The trip to work from Cotulla: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cotulla workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,280 commuters (the 3% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
1,224 jobs are based in Cotulla.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cotulla, 2013 → 2023: 1,023 → 1,224. 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 Cotulla’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Cotulla by day
On a workday 923 residents head out to work, 412 work right here, and 812 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.92 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Cotulla ends
Where Cotulla clocks in
13% of workers
3% 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.
Most of Cotulla commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cotulla is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns, #361 of 642 in Texas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,313 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). 5.3% of Cotulla households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cotulla’s commuters take a bus or train.
3,401st of 4,355: where Cotulla ranks among U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,399 | Agua Dulce TX | 2,697 | $47K | 20.4% | 5.4% | 1% | C− |
| 3,400 | Ringgold GA | 3,391 | $43K | 14.9% | 4.8% | 8% | C− |
| 3,401 | Cotulla TX | 3,583 | $70K | 26.7% | 3.0% | 31% | C− |
| 3,402 | Karnes City TX | 3,540 | $55K | 29.6% | 1.8% | 8% | C− |
| 3,403 | Marceline Township MO | 2,589 | $75K | 17.9% | 4.5% | 32% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,355 | 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 Cotulla, 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 Cotulla: questions
What is the median household income in Cotulla?
$70,067 (±$28,909) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cotulla?
26.7%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cotulla?
17 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cotulla work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Antonio (13%, 83 mi), Laredo (3%, 62 mi), Del Rio (3%, 119 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cotulla walkable?
Cotulla is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cotulla 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 Cotulla, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cotulla
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.