Photo: Darrylpearson · CC BY-SA 4.0Work means Austin for about two in five of Elgin’s working residents
About one in ten work in Elgin; the top destination outside it is Austin (40%, 22 miles). Jobs and income earn Elgin A−; getting around on foot earns it C+. For 21% of workers, the job is at home, next to 14% for Texas as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Elgin: the figures worth knowing
Elgin has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Elgin went from 2,045 in 2013 to 3,576 in 2023, +75%. The jobs ↓
40% of Elgin works in Austin
2,111 working residents, 40%, have their main job in Austin, 22 miles away. That’s 4 times as many as work in Elgin itself. The commute map ↓
Elgin workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Jobs & income in Elgin: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Elgin is better than 79% of U.S. towns, #153 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 81% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Elgin could be anywhere from B to A+.
Jobs in Elgin: what the 3,576 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elgin, 2013 → 2023: 2,045 → 3,576. 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 Elgin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The places Elgin commutes to
Where Elgin clocks in
40% of workers
4% 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.
The daily trip from Elgin: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elgin workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,753 commuters (the 21% 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.
A workday in Elgin: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 4,710 residents head out to work, 511 work right here, and 3,065 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Elgin on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.68 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Elgin
About 25% 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.
Getting around Elgin: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elgin is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns, #365 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% 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 6,013 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 30% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 2.9% of Elgin households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Elgin’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Elgin ranks: 808th of 2,526 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000
| # | 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 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Lantana TX | 12,766 | $199K | 0.6% | 2.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Bellaire TX | 17,434 | $244K | 2.4% | 3.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 806 | Skidaway Island GA | 9,315 | $136K | 2.5% | 5.7% | 10% | A− |
| 807 | Alexandria KY | 10,994 | $102K | 7.7% | 3.2% | 7% | A− |
| 808 | Elgin TX | 13,327 | $91K | 5.3% | 4.2% | 10% | A− |
| 809 | San Diego Country Estates CA | 10,223 | $145K | 2.6% | 4.1% | 4% | A− |
| 810 | Riverview MI | 11,947 | $73K | 7.3% | 2.3% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Elgin, 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 Elgin: questions
What is the median household income in Elgin?
$91,114 (±$13,867) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elgin?
5.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elgin?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elgin work?
10% work in town.
Is Elgin walkable?
Elgin is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elgin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elgin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elgin
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.