Photo: Aaron Jacobs on en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 2.5Unemployment in Denton (5.1%) is higher than in 63% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 6.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 10.1 in Dallas. For jobs and income Denton is better than 53% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (A). About one in four work in Denton; the top destination outside it is Dallas (11%, 36 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Denton, in brief
Denton trades workers with the towns around it
Denton has about as many jobs (70,198) as working residents (71,162), but they are mostly different people: 51,457 residents leave for work each day while 50,493 people come in. Only 28% of the jobs in Denton are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Denton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Denton is Dallas, 37 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (7,796) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The quickest commute around
Denton’s 24-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 27 to 36 minutes. Next door ↓
Denton has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Denton went from 50,322 in 2013 to 70,198 in 2023, +39%. The jobs ↓
A young workforce
30% of Denton’s working residents are 29 or younger. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Denton’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Denton’s grade up (ahead of 94% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.8%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Denton could be anywhere from B− to B.
The daily commute in and out of Denton
On a workday 51,457 residents head out to work, 19,705 work right here, and 50,493 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 (0.99 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.
How far it is to work from Denton
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.
What the 70,198 jobs in Denton are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Denton, 2013 → 2023: 50,322 → 70,198. 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 Denton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Denton’s residents
Where Denton clocks in
5% 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.
The trip to work from Denton: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Denton workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 69,045 commuters (the 14% 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.
Denton is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 80,572 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 61% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 21% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 87% 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). 5.4% of Denton households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Denton’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Ranked on jobs and income, Denton is 100th among 183 U.S. towns of 119,000 to 229,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| 3 | Olathe KS | 150,025 | $114K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 26% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | League City TX | 119,905 | $121K | 5.4% | 3.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Carrollton TX | 134,562 | $101K | 7.1% | 3.3% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Mesquite TX | 150,693 | $73K | 13.4% | 5.4% | 12% | B− |
| 99 | Yonkers NY | 212,603 | $84K | 13.8% | 7.1% | 18% | B− |
| 100 | Denton TX | 169,431 | $76K | 15.8% | 5.1% | 28% | B− |
| 101 | Aurora Township IL | 127,446 | $76K | 12.1% | 6.2% | 21% | B− |
| 102 | Fargo ND | 136,275 | $67K | 12.9% | 3.8% | 70% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 183 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Denton, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
How Denton compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Denton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denton | – | B− | A | 24 min | $76,019 |
| Corinth | under 2% | A+ | B− | 27 min | $120,580 |
| Argyle | under 2% | A+ | B+ | 36 min | $181,352 |
| Shady Shores | under 2% | A+ | C | 28 min | $159,375 |
| Northlake | under 2% | A | C+ | 32 min | $123,469 |
| Krum | under 2% | A+ | C− | 32 min | $124,405 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Denton’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 Denton: questions
What is the median household income in Denton?
$76,019 (±$3,990) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Denton?
15.8%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Denton?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Denton work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dallas (11%, 36 mi), Fort Worth (5%, 32 mi), Plano (4%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Denton walkable?
Denton is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.7 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Denton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 21% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Denton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Denton
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.