Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Households in Farwell earn less than those in 79% of U.S. towns
Farwell grades D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Below the poverty line: 16.3% of residents, where Texas as a whole has 13.8%. About one in ten stay in Farwell for work; outside it, Amarillo is the main destination (5%, 89 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Farwell
A big share show a job far from home
38% 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 ↓
Commutes from Farwell are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Farwell has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Farwell went from 351 in 2013 to 489 in 2023, +39%. 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; with 396 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Farwell
On income, poverty and job access, Farwell is better than 13% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Farwell’s grade.
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Farwell’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Farwell could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Where in the region Farwell works
About 38% 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 trip to work from Farwell: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Farwell workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 469 commuters (the 9% 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.
Jobs in Farwell: what the 489 are
489 jobs are based in Farwell.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Farwell, 2013 → 2023: 351 → 489. 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 Farwell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Farwell by day and by night
On a workday 352 residents head out to work, 44 work right here, and 445 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 (1.23 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.
Where people from Farwell work
Where Farwell clocks in
5% 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.
Getting around Farwell: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Farwell is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% 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 518 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). 0.0% of Farwell households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Farwell’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900, Farwell comes 4,586th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Seis Lagos TX | 1,391 | $249K | 1.2% | 4.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Rollingwood TX | 1,466 | $240K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| 31 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,584 | Hawley PA | 1,212 | $48K | 12.2% | 3.1% | 4% | D |
| 4,585 | Tunkhannock PA | 1,718 | $58K | 21.6% | 5.5% | 9% | D |
| 4,586 | Farwell TX | 1,387 | $57K | 16.3% | 0.0% | 11% | D |
| 4,587 | Augusta WI | 1,483 | $54K | 18.2% | 1.3% | 11% | D |
| 4,588 | Hiram ME | 1,712 | $63K | 12.6% | 4.4% | 5% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Farwell, 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 Farwell: questions
What is the median household income in Farwell?
$56,875 (±$17,134) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Farwell?
16.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Farwell?
18 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Farwell work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Amarillo (5%, 89 mi), Lubbock (5%, 87 mi), Muleshoe (3%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Farwell walkable?
Farwell is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Farwell without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Farwell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Farwell
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.