Hooks’ household incomes are lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
Hooks grades D for jobs and income and C for walkability. 25.2% of residents live below the poverty line, where Texas as a whole has 13.8%. 6% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Hooks at work: what stands out
One in three of Hooks works in Texarkana
301 working residents, 33%, have their main job in Texarkana, 12 miles away. That’s 4 times as many as work in Hooks itself. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Hooks are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Many jobs in Hooks pay little
26% of the jobs based in Hooks pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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 908 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Hooks gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hooks is better than 12% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Hooks’ grade up (ahead of 45% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($43,555, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hooks could be anywhere from D− to B−.
33% of working residents work in Texarkana
Where Hooks clocks in
33% of workers
6% 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 daily trip from Hooks: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hooks workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 922 commuters (the 6% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Hooks
395 jobs are based in Hooks.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hooks, 2013 → 2023: 374 → 395. 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 Hooks’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Hooks
On a workday 826 residents head out to work, 82 work right here, and 313 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Hooks on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.44 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Hooks
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.
In Hooks, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hooks is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% 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 980 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). 5.9% of Hooks households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hooks’ commuters take a bus or train.
4,580th of 5,401: where Hooks ranks among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Southside Place TX | 1,916 | $163K | 5.0% | 5.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,578 | Corydon IA | 1,711 | $51K | 11.5% | 5.6% | 29% | D |
| 4,579 | Oakland MD | 1,808 | $53K | 17.5% | 3.2% | 28% | D |
| 4,580 | Hooks TX | 2,490 | $44K | 25.2% | 5.8% | 9% | D |
| 4,581 | Sanilac Township MI | 2,281 | $57K | 11.6% | 2.6% | 10% | D |
| 4,582 | Douglass Township MI | 2,342 | $67K | 13.1% | 8.8% | 1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,401 | 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 Hooks, 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 Hooks: questions
What is the median household income in Hooks?
$43,555 (±$11,955) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hooks?
25.2%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hooks?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hooks work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Texarkana (33%, 12 mi), Texarkana (6%, 17 mi), New Boston (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hooks walkable?
Hooks is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hooks 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 Hooks, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hooks
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.