Households in Elsa earn less than those in 94% of U.S. towns
31.8% of residents are in poverty (Texas 13.8%). Jobs and income earn Elsa C+; getting around on foot earns it C+. Home is the office for 5% of workers; Texas has 14%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Elsa: the figures worth knowing
Jobs in Elsa have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Elsa went from 998 in 2013 to 2,277 in 2023, +128%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Elsa are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 107 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Elsa is where the jobs are
Elsa has 2,277 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Elsa workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Elsa’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 21% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 ↓
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.
What’s behind Elsa’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Elsa is better than 43% of U.S. towns, #333 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Elsa’s grade up (0.5%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Elsa could be anywhere from C+ to B.
The kinds of work in Elsa
2,277 jobs are based in Elsa.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elsa, 2013 → 2023: 998 → 2,277. 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 Elsa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 13 minutes to work from Elsa
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elsa workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,179 commuters (the 5% 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.
In and out of Elsa on a workday
On a workday 1,109 residents head out to work, 49 work right here, and 2,228 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,900 people are in Elsa on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
How far Elsa goes to work
About 35% 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 daily trip into Elsa
Where Elsa clocks in
11% of workers
9% of workers
8% 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 Elsa gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elsa is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns, #388 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 2,294 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). 10.6% of Elsa households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Elsa’s commuters take a bus or train.
Elsa places 2,139th of 3,432 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 4,100 to 7,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Garden Ridge TX | 4,371 | $177K | 0.4% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,137 | Vail CO | 4,407 | $99K | 6.4% | 7.4% | 40% | C+ |
| 2,138 | Chittenango NY | 4,753 | $71K | 14.6% | 4.2% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,139 | Elsa TX | 5,820 | $42K | 31.8% | 0.5% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,140 | Jenkins Township PA | 4,552 | $55K | 8.5% | 5.5% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,141 | Iroquois Point HI | 5,158 | $110K | 14.9% | 12.7% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,432 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Elsa, 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 Elsa: questions
What is the median household income in Elsa?
$42,439 (±$15,953) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elsa?
31.8%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elsa?
13 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elsa work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Edinburg (11%, 10 mi), McAllen (9%, 16 mi), Weslaco (8%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elsa walkable?
Elsa is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elsa without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elsa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elsa
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.