Hays has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
A typical one-way commute from Hays lasts 28 minutes (Texas 27, U.S. 26). Hays has 23 jobs, and 116 of its residents work somewhere. Hardly any stay in Hays for work; outside it, Austin is the main destination (43%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes Hays
On a workday 116 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 23 people come in from elsewhere.
About 180 people are in Hays on a workday afternoon, 34% 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.
Out of Hays to work: where people go
Where Hays clocks in
43% of workers
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.
The kinds of work in Hays
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hays, 2013 → 2023: 3 → 23. 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 Hays’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 28 minutes to work from Hays
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hays workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 64 commuters (the 10% 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 far it is to work from Hays
About 27% 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.
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 Hays: questions
What is the median household income in Hays?
$70,625 (±$58,009) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hays?
6.1%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hays?
28 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hays work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Austin (43%, 14 mi), San Antonio (5%, 60 mi), Houston (3%, 150 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Hays without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hays, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hays
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.