Heidelberg’s household incomes are lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Heidelberg is better than 17% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (B−). Below the poverty line: 13.5% of residents, next to 13.8% for Texas as a whole. Working from home is the commute for 1% of workers (Texas 14%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Heidelberg
Heidelberg is a place people come home to
There are 64 jobs based in Heidelberg, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Heidelberg are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Heidelberg workers earn over $40,000 a year
39% of Heidelberg’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 23% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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 538 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Heidelberg
Job access by car holds Heidelberg’s grade up (ahead of 71% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (27.5%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Heidelberg could be anywhere from D to B.
Who works in Heidelberg, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 535 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 61 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Heidelberg on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.12 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.
About 14 minutes each way, quicker than most of Texas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Heidelberg workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,080 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
64 jobs are based in Heidelberg.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Heidelberg, 2013 → 2023: 7 → 64. 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 Heidelberg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
16% of working residents work in Weslaco
Where Heidelberg clocks in
16% of workers
12% of workers
12% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Heidelberg
About 17% 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.
Few in Heidelberg walk, bike or ride to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 16.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.0% across Texas, on an EPA index of 3.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,091 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 Heidelberg households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Heidelberg’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,102 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000, Heidelberg comes 3,956th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Southside Place TX | 1,916 | $163K | 5.0% | 5.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Bartonville TX | 1,937 | $149K | 4.3% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,954 | Lake Township MN | 1,995 | $76K | 17.4% | 3.3% | 6% | C− |
| 3,955 | Gorham Township OH | 2,120 | $53K | 14.9% | 1.1% | 5% | C− |
| 3,956 | Heidelberg TX | 2,215 | $34K | 13.5% | 27.5% | 1% | C− |
| 3,957 | Star City AR | 2,059 | $51K | 23.9% | 3.3% | 32% | C− |
| 3,958 | Silver Creek NY | 2,575 | $64K | 21.5% | 6.7% | 8% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Heidelberg, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Heidelberg and its neighbors: 12% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Heidelberg workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heidelberg | – | C− | B− | 14 min | $33,953 |
| Mercedes | 12% | C− | C | 19 min | $46,904 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Mercedes. Darker towns draw more of Heidelberg’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 Heidelberg: questions
What is the median household income in Heidelberg?
$33,953 (±$10,918) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Heidelberg?
13.5%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Heidelberg?
14 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Heidelberg work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Weslaco (16%, 6 mi), Harlingen (12%, 12 mi), Mercedes (12%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Heidelberg walkable?
Heidelberg is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 3.5 out of 20, and 17% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Heidelberg 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 Heidelberg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Heidelberg
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.