Photo: Loadmaster (David R. Tribble) This image was made by Loadmaster (David R. Tribble). Email the author: David R. Tribble Also see my personal gallery at Google Photos · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Hamilton trail those of 94% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 15.5% of residents, where Texas as a whole has 13.8%. For jobs and income Hamilton is better than 4% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (C). Working from home is the commute for 1% of workers, 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 sets Hamilton apart on work
Commutes from Hamilton are quick
The average trip to work takes 10 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 130 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Hamilton workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
39% 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.
Where Hamilton’s Jobs & income grade comes from
The poverty rate holds Hamilton’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down (10.4%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hamilton could be anywhere from D− to C+.
A commute of about 10 minutes in Hamilton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hamilton workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,172 commuters (the 1% 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.
Where in the region Hamilton works
About 39% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 784 residents head out to work, 479 work right here, and 939 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 (1.12 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.
5% of working residents work in Austin
Where Hamilton 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.
Inside Hamilton’s 1,418 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hamilton, 2013 → 2023: 1,362 → 1,418. 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 Hamilton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Hamilton, the car does most of the work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,189 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). 2.7% of Hamilton households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hamilton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Hamilton sits among U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,571 | Aitkin MN | 2,155 | $48K | 22.1% | 4.0% | 38% | D− |
| 4,572 | Fairmont NC | 2,231 | $37K | 29.0% | 7.8% | 8% | D− |
| 4,573 | Hamilton TX | 3,016 | $44K | 15.5% | 10.4% | 38% | D− |
| 4,574 | Frazier Park CA | 2,681 | $48K | 22.2% | 6.2% | 10% | D− |
| 4,575 | Lake Placid FL | 2,599 | $47K | 23.8% | 8.1% | 15% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Hamilton, 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 Hamilton: questions
What is the median household income in Hamilton?
$43,780 (±$6,812) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hamilton?
15.5%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hamilton?
10 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hamilton work?
38% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Austin (5%, 99 mi), San Antonio (3%, 156 mi), Waco (2%, 56 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hamilton walkable?
Hamilton is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hamilton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hamilton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hamilton
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.