A job hub: Freeport has 2.2 jobs per working resident, and 8,521 people come in to work
Freeport grades C for jobs and income and C for walkability. 8,960 jobs are based in Freeport for 4,006 working residents. For 3% 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
What the numbers say about work in Freeport
Freeport makes and builds things
67% of the jobs based in Freeport are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Freeport residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 30%. The jobs ↓
Freeport’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Freeport is Houston, 58 miles away as the crow flies. 18% of working residents (733) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The jobs in Freeport pay better than its residents’ jobs
86% of the jobs based in Freeport pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 56% of the jobs Freeport residents hold. 95% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Freeport. The jobs ↓
Freeport is where the jobs are
Freeport has 8,960 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 15,000 people are in town, 47% more than the 11,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
40% 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.
Why Freeport gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Freeport is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #427 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Freeport’s grade up (ahead of 55% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($61,134, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Freeport could be anywhere from D to B.
Freeport makes things: 67% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Freeport, 2013 → 2023: 8,828 → 8,960. 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 Freeport’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Freeport
About 40% 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.
In and out of Freeport on a workday
On a workday 3,567 residents head out to work and 439 work right here.
About 15,000 people are in Freeport on a workday afternoon, 47% more 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.
The towns that send workers to Freeport
Where Freeport clocks in
18% of workers
11% 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.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Freeport
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Freeport workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,354 commuters (the 3% 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.
For most of Freeport, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Freeport is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns, #444 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 4,475 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). 5.0% of Freeport households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Freeport’s commuters take a bus or train.
Freeport places 2,224th of 2,878 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | 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 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Lucas TX | 8,896 | $221K | 1.3% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,222 | East Lincoln Township IL | 7,589 | $59K | 20.0% | 4.1% | 14% | C |
| 2,223 | La Feria TX | 7,222 | $45K | 25.0% | 3.8% | 5% | C |
| 2,224 | Freeport TX | 10,508 | $61K | 13.7% | 5.7% | 11% | C |
| 2,225 | Tobyhanna Township PA | 8,380 | $90K | 14.3% | 12.0% | 12% | C |
| 2,226 | Monmouth IL | 8,599 | $61K | 17.7% | 3.6% | 44% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Freeport, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Work in the towns next to Freeport
The biggest share goes to Lake Jackson (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Freeport workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freeport | – | C | C | 25 min | $61,134 |
| Lake Jackson | 8% | C+ | C− | 21 min | $90,938 |
| Quintana | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Surfside Beach | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Quintana and Surfside Beach: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Freeport’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 Freeport: questions
What is the median household income in Freeport?
$61,134 (±$8,503) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Freeport?
13.7%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Freeport?
25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Freeport work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (18%, 58 mi), Clute (11%, 6 mi), Lake Jackson (8%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Freeport walkable?
Freeport is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Freeport without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Freeport, from the people who make the trip.
More of Freeport
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.