Photo: TigerPaw2154 at English Wikipedia · Public domainHarper at work: jobs, income and the commute
Working residents average 29 minutes each way, next to 27 for Texas and 26 for the U.S. Getting around Harper on foot earns D−. Only 7% stay in Harper for work; outside it, Fredericksburg is the main destination (16%, 24 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Harper, in a few figures
A big share show a job far from home
43% 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 ↓
Harper’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Harper is Fredericksburg, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (82) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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; with 504 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where in the region Harper works
About 43% 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 Harper for work, and who comes in
On a workday 468 residents head out to work, 36 work right here, and 291 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Harper on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.65 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.
Commuting out of Harper: the destinations
Where Harper clocks in
16% of workers
15% of workers
14% 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.
Goods jobs make up 31% of work in Harper
327 jobs are based in Harper.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Harper, 2013 → 2023: 191 → 327. 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 Harper’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Harper: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Harper workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 399 commuters (the 20% 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.
Few in Harper walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Harper is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Harper 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 496 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). 0.0% of Harper households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Harper’s commuters take a bus or train.
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 Harper: questions
What is the poverty rate in Harper?
13.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Harper?
29 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Harper work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fredericksburg (16%, 24 mi), Kerrville (15%, 18 mi), San Antonio (14%, 71 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Harper walkable?
Harper is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Harper without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Harper, from the people who make the trip.
More of Harper
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.