William and Blanche Brooks House · Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Forney commutes out: there are 0.6 jobs for every working resident
7,849 jobs are based in Forney, against 14,070 working residents. Jobs and income earn Forney B+; getting around on foot earns it B. Household incomes here are higher than in 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Forney: the figures worth knowing
Jobs in Forney have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Forney went from 3,667 in 2013 to 7,849 in 2023, +114%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Forney
70% of Forney residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 41% of the jobs based in Forney pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Forney workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Forney and Dallas trade workers both ways
Dallas is the top workplace for Forney residents (32%) and also where the most people who work in Forney come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
45% of the jobs in Forney are in trade, transport and utilities, against 22% of the jobs its residents hold. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Jobs & income in Forney: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Forney is better than 71% of U.S. towns, #187 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Forney’s grade up (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Forney could be anywhere from B to A.
What Forney’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Forney, 2013 → 2023: 3,667 → 7,849. 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 Forney’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 36 minutes each way, longer than most of Texas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Forney workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,068 commuters (the 11% 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.
32% of working residents work in Dallas
Where Forney clocks in
4% 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.
Forney quiets down on a workday
On a workday 13,436 residents head out to work, 634 work right here, and 7,215 people come in from elsewhere.
About 35,000 people are in Forney on a workday afternoon, 15% 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.
Half of Forney commutes less than 22 miles
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 Forney, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Forney is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns, #232 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Forney near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 15,723 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 3.2% of Forney households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Forney’s commuters take a bus or train.
Forney next to U.S. towns of 29,000 to 56,000: 482nd of 1,037 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Keller TX | 46,078 | $175K | 3.4% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Coppell TX | 41,386 | $146K | 5.4% | 2.6% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 480 | White Lake Township MI | 31,377 | $95K | 8.9% | 4.4% | 4% | B+ |
| 481 | Bedford Township MI | 32,013 | $90K | 7.1% | 4.3% | 11% | B+ |
| 482 | Forney TX | 41,658 | $104K | 8.8% | 5.9% | 5% | B+ |
| 483 | Graham WA | 35,079 | $117K | 5.9% | 5.1% | 2% | B+ |
| 484 | Monrovia CA | 38,264 | $96K | 10.3% | 5.1% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,037 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Forney, 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 Forney: questions
What is the median household income in Forney?
$104,112 (±$7,766) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Forney?
8.8%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Forney?
36 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Forney work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dallas (32%, 19 mi), Mesquite (6%, 8 mi), Garland (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Forney walkable?
Forney is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Forney 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 Forney, from the people who make the trip.
More of Forney
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.