Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Crane has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
0% of workers have no commute at all, where Texas as a whole has 14%. 420 jobs are based in Crane for 1,642 working residents. Crane grades C for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Crane, in brief
Crane’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Crane is Odessa, 34 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (269) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Most jobs in Crane go to people who live here
Of the 420 jobs based in Crane, 45% are held by Crane residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Crane than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Crane fell from 656 in 2013 to 420 in 2023, −36%. 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 ↓
Few Crane workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Crane
65% of Crane residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 45% of the jobs based in Crane pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 88% leave town for their job. 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.
Jobs & income in Crane: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Crane is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #396 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Crane’s grade up (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 20% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Crane could be anywhere from D to A−.
Half of Crane commutes less than 35 miles
About 28% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Crane
On a workday 1,453 residents head out to work, 189 work right here, and 231 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Crane on a workday afternoon, 37% 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.
Jobs in Crane: what the 420 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Crane, 2013 → 2023: 656 → 420. 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 Crane’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Crane: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Crane workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,094 commuters (the 0% 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.
16% of working residents work in Odessa
Where Crane clocks in
16% of workers
10% 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.
Driving is how Crane gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Crane is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns, #370 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,094 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). 4.5% of Crane households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Crane’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Crane is 3,060th among 4,593 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,058 | Putney VT | 2,575 | $80K | 16.0% | 4.3% | 21% | C |
| 3,059 | Attica NY | 2,421 | $62K | 11.0% | 3.5% | 6% | C |
| 3,060 | Crane TX | 3,303 | $73K | 14.7% | 3.6% | 12% | C |
| 3,061 | Monroe Township IN | 2,882 | $55K | 10.2% | 4.3% | 14% | C |
| 3,062 | Mussey Township MI | 4,177 | $66K | 5.9% | 7.8% | 5% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | 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 Crane, 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 Crane: questions
What is the median household income in Crane?
$73,150 (±$14,338) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Crane?
14.7%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Crane?
30 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Crane work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Odessa (16%, 34 mi), Midland (10%, 46 mi), West Odessa (3%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Crane walkable?
Crane is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Crane 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 Crane, from the people who make the trip.
More of Crane
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.