At 11.5%, unemployment in Heartland is higher than in 97% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Heartland is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns. The two grades for Heartland are B for jobs and income and C for walkability. Hardly any work in Heartland; the top destination outside it is Dallas (35%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Heartland
Heartland workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 40 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas. Over a year that’s about 307 hours of commuting, 100 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Heartland is a place people come home to
There are 242 jobs based in Heartland, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Heartland has about 5,900 people in it, 45% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Heartland and Dallas trade workers both ways
Dallas is the top workplace for Heartland residents (35%) and also where the most people who work in Heartland come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
Inside Heartland’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Heartland is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #265 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Heartland’s grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Heartland could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
About 40 minutes each way, longer than most of Texas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Heartland workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,094 commuters (the 15% 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.
Heartland by day and by night
On a workday 4,961 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 230 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,900 people are in Heartland on a workday afternoon, 45% fewer than live here.
0.05 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.
Where Heartland’s working residents head each day
Where Heartland clocks in
4% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Heartland
242 jobs are based in Heartland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Heartland, 2013 → 2023: 3 → 242. 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 Heartland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Heartland to work
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 Heartland, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Heartland is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns, #432 of 642 in Texas. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.0% across Texas, on an EPA index of 4.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,817 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.9% of Heartland households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Heartland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000, Heartland ranks 1,509th of 2,878 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,507 | Groesbeck OH | 7,824 | $62K | 9.8% | 3.9% | 2% | B |
| 1,508 | Amelia OH | 12,871 | $71K | 13.0% | 2.7% | 2% | B |
| 1,509 | Heartland TX | 10,607 | $93K | 9.2% | 11.5% | <1% | B |
| 1,510 | Sandy OR | 13,323 | $109K | 7.8% | 6.0% | 11% | B |
| 1,511 | Chouteau Township IL | 7,428 | $60K | 14.0% | 2.8% | 9% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Heartland, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Next door to Heartland
The biggest share goes to Mesquite (6%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Heartland’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 Heartland: questions
What is the median household income in Heartland?
$92,996 (±$8,305) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Heartland?
9.2%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Heartland?
40 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Heartland work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dallas (35%, 20 mi), Mesquite (6%, 10 mi), Richardson (4%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Heartland walkable?
Heartland is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Heartland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Heartland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Heartland
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.