Photo: Randy Colborn · CC BY-SA 4.0Garland at work: jobs, income and the commute
About one in seven stay in Garland for work; outside it, Dallas is the main destination (28%, 11 miles). Garland grades B for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Commuters spend 30 minutes getting to work on average, 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
Getting to work from Garland, in brief
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Garland
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Garland is better than 60% of U.S. towns, #250 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Garland’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (13.0%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Garland could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Garland quiets down on a workday
On a workday 91,328 residents head out to work, 13,443 work right here, and 58,874 people come in from elsewhere.
About 217,000 people are in Garland on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.69 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The towns that employ Garland’s residents
Where Garland clocks in
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.
What work there is in Garland: 72,317 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Garland, 2013 → 2023: 67,985 → 72,317. 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 Garland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Garland takes about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Garland workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 106,264 commuters (the 12% 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.
How many miles Garland commutes
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.
Getting around Garland: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Garland is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns, #76 of 642 in Texas. 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 121,342 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 89% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 22% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 77% 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). 4.1% of Garland households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Garland’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Garland next to U.S. towns of 175,000 to 337,000: 38th of 106 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 3 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | McKinney TX | 236,001 | $124K | 5.7% | 3.7% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Plano TX | 293,028 | $112K | 6.8% | 4.0% | 23% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Jersey City NJ | 302,013 | $98K | 15.6% | 5.5% | 17% | B |
| 37 | Grand Prairie TX | 209,434 | $82K | 12.1% | 5.2% | 12% | B |
| 38 | Garland TX | 249,625 | $76K | 13.0% | 4.8% | 13% | B |
| 39 | Santa Rosa CA | 179,437 | $99K | 9.7% | 6.3% | 35% | B |
| 40 | Lincoln NE | 301,522 | $72K | 12.7% | 3.3% | 79% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | Shreveport LA | 175,902 | $49K | 23.5% | 9.0% | 61% | C− |
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 Garland, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Garland and its neighbors: 39% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Garland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garland | – | B | B+ | 30 min | $76,320 |
| Dallas | 28% | B− | A | 26 min | $70,518 |
| Sachse | under 3% | A | B | 30 min | $131,808 |
| Rowlett | under 3% | A | B− | 31 min | $112,081 |
| Richardson | 8% | B+ | A | 24 min | $98,111 |
| Mesquite | 3% | B− | B | 32 min | $72,537 |
| Sunnyvale | under 3% | A− | C+ | 33 min | $170,348 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Dallas. Darker towns draw more of Garland’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 Garland: questions
What is the median household income in Garland?
$76,320 (±$2,111) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Garland?
13.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Garland?
30 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Garland work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dallas (28%, 11 mi), Richardson (8%, 6 mi), Plano (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Garland walkable?
Garland is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 12.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Garland without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 22% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Garland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Garland
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.