Forest Hill has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
There are 2,836 jobs in Forest Hill, against 6,369 working residents. The two grades for Forest Hill are B− for jobs and income and B for walkability. A typical one-way commute lasts 29 minutes, where Texas has 27 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Forest Hill
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Forest Hill
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Forest Hill is better than 53% of U.S. towns, #282 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Forest Hill’s grade up (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (14.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Forest Hill could be anywhere from C to A−.
31% of working residents work in Fort Worth
Where Forest Hill clocks in
31% of workers
9% 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.
How a workday changes Forest Hill
On a workday 6,244 residents head out to work, 125 work right here, and 2,711 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Forest Hill on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Forest Hill makes things: 32% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Forest Hill, 2013 → 2023: 2,470 → 2,836. 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 Forest Hill’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Forest Hill: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Forest Hill workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,584 commuters (the 10% 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.
The distance from Forest Hill to work
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.
In Forest Hill, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Forest Hill is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns, #159 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% 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 6,233 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 87% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 10% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 72% 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). 4.6% of Forest Hill households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Forest Hill’s commuters take a bus or train.
Forest Hill next to U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000: 1,332nd of 2,227 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Lantana TX | 12,766 | $199K | 0.6% | 2.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 66 | Bellaire TX | 17,434 | $244K | 2.4% | 3.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,330 | Goodlettsville TN | 17,506 | $71K | 9.7% | 6.1% | 8% | B− |
| 1,331 | Harrison Township OH | 10,681 | $64K | 9.2% | 4.6% | 7% | B− |
| 1,332 | Forest Hill TX | 14,056 | $68K | 14.8% | 4.7% | 2% | B− |
| 1,333 | Monee Township IL | 15,375 | $85K | 12.3% | 6.6% | 6% | B− |
| 1,334 | Luling LA | 13,960 | $77K | 13.6% | 4.6% | 16% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | 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 Forest Hill, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Next door is work for 31% of Forest Hill
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Forest Hill workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Hill | – | B− | B | 29 min | $68,457 |
| Fort Worth | 31% | B | B+ | 27 min | $79,507 |
| Kennedale | under 2% | A | C+ | 32 min | $118,794 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Fort Worth. Darker towns draw more of Forest Hill’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 Forest Hill: questions
What is the median household income in Forest Hill?
$68,457 (±$6,954) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Forest Hill?
14.8%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Forest Hill?
29 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Forest Hill work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Worth (31%, 10 mi), Dallas (11%, 30 mi), Arlington (9%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Forest Hill walkable?
Forest Hill is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 12.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Forest Hill without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 10% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Forest Hill, from the people who make the trip.
More of Forest Hill
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.