Photo: Djmaschek · CC BY-SA 4.0At 6.4%, unemployment in El Campo is higher than in 78% of U.S. towns
The two grades for El Campo are C− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Home is the office for 2% of workers, against 14% across Texas. About one in four stay in El Campo for work; outside it, Houston is the main destination (16%, 67 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets El Campo apart on work
El Campo’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside El Campo is Houston, 67 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (975) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
El Campo trades workers with the towns around it
El Campo has about as many jobs (5,290) as working residents (6,150), but they are mostly different people: 4,532 residents leave for work each day while 3,672 people come in. Only 31% of the jobs in El Campo are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
46% 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 El Campo workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from El Campo are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 38 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.
The four measures behind El Campo’s grade
Household income holds El Campo’s grade up ($67,017, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (21.0%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, El Campo could be anywhere from D to B−.
Half of El Campo commutes less than 42 miles
About 46% 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.
Who works in El Campo, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 4,532 residents head out to work, 1,618 work right here, and 3,672 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 (0.86 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.
From El Campo, about 22 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of El Campo workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,881 commuters (the 2% 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.
Where El Campo’s working residents head each day
Where El Campo clocks in
16% of workers
4% of workers
2% 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 kinds of work in El Campo
5,290 jobs are based in El Campo.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in El Campo, 2013 → 2023: 4,718 → 5,290. 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 El Campo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
El Campo is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, El Campo is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #293 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% of 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 4,990 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). 6.4% of El Campo households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of El Campo’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000, and where El Campo sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Lucas TX | 8,896 | $221K | 1.3% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Lantana TX | 12,766 | $199K | 0.6% | 2.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,425 | Picture Rocks AZ | 9,448 | $62K | 16.8% | 6.4% | 3% | C− |
| 2,426 | McFarland CA | 14,709 | $55K | 24.1% | 7.9% | 14% | C− |
| 2,427 | El Campo TX | 12,142 | $67K | 21.0% | 6.4% | 26% | C− |
| 2,428 | Center Township MO | 9,550 | $50K | 19.1% | 4.4% | 39% | C− |
| 2,429 | Fitzgerald GA | 8,882 | $37K | 27.8% | 3.2% | 30% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 El Campo, 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 El Campo: questions
What is the median household income in El Campo?
$67,017 (±$12,887) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in El Campo?
21.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from El Campo?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in El Campo work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (16%, 67 mi), Wharton (4%, 13 mi), Victoria (2%, 50 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is El Campo walkable?
El Campo is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around El Campo without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from El Campo, from the people who make the trip.
More of El Campo
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.