Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.6 jobs for every working resident, most of Hereford works elsewhere
The two grades for Hereford are C− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Employers in Hereford report 3,587 jobs for 6,318 working residents. Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers, against 14% across Texas.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Hereford
Commutes from Hereford are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Hereford’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Hereford is Amarillo, 42 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (676) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Most jobs in Hereford go to people who live here
Of the 3,587 jobs based in Hereford, 49% are held by Hereford residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Few Hereford workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
Why Hereford gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hereford is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #502 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Hereford’s grade up (4.1%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($56,868, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hereford could be anywhere from D to B−.
Each way, about 16 minutes from Hereford
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hereford workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,562 commuters (the 2% 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.
Miles to work from Hereford
About 20% 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 works in Hereford, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 4,573 residents head out to work, 1,745 work right here, and 1,842 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Hereford on a workday afternoon, 18% 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.
11% of working residents work in Amarillo
Where Hereford clocks in
11% of workers
2% 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 Hereford
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hereford, 2013 → 2023: 3,680 → 3,587. 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 Hereford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Hereford, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hereford is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns, #379 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% of 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 6,718 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). 5.0% of Hereford households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hereford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000, Hereford ranks 2,027th of 2,362 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Lantana TX | 12,766 | $199K | 0.6% | 2.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Bellaire TX | 17,434 | $244K | 2.4% | 3.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,025 | Paradise CA | 10,023 | $68K | 18.2% | 4.9% | 18% | C− |
| 2,026 | Cambridge Township OH | 13,836 | $50K | 22.9% | 4.0% | 35% | C− |
| 2,027 | Hereford TX | 14,976 | $57K | 15.7% | 4.1% | 28% | C− |
| 2,028 | Canton NY | 11,256 | $70K | 13.9% | 5.7% | 39% | C− |
| 2,029 | Tarboro NC | 10,979 | $50K | 18.5% | 4.5% | 27% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Hereford, 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 Hereford: questions
What is the median household income in Hereford?
$56,868 (±$9,293) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hereford?
15.7%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hereford?
16 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hereford work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Amarillo (11%, 42 mi), Lubbock (3%, 92 mi), Plainview (2%, 58 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hereford walkable?
Hereford is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hereford without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hereford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hereford
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.