Photo: Katie Haugland Brown · CC BY 2.0Houston has 2.0 jobs for every working resident: 1,210,112 people commute in to work
The average commute takes 27 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. Houston has 1,789,039 jobs, and 894,716 of its residents work somewhere. About two in three work in Houston; the top destination outside it is Sugar Land (2%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Houston in brief
Houston is where the jobs are
Houston has 1,789,039 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Houston draws workers from far and wide
The 1,789,039 jobs in Houston are filled from a wide area. Houston’s own residents hold 32% and the ten next-biggest home towns 11%; the other 57% come from many towns beyond those. 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.
Jobs & income in Houston: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Houston is better than 38% of U.S. towns, #360 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Houston’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (19.9%, U.S. 12.5%).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Houston stays C+.
Who works in Houston, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 315,789 residents head out to work and 578,927 work right here.
About 3,292,000 people are in Houston on a workday afternoon, 37% more 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.
The daily trip into Houston
Where Houston clocks in
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.
65% of the jobs in Houston pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Houston, 2013 → 2023: 1,573,188 → 1,789,039. 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 Houston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Houston’s commute takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Houston workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 978,341 commuters (the 13% 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 Houston goes 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.
Houston is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,124,668 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 83% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 37% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 10.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 94% 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). 10.1% of Houston households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Houston’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Houston and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Houston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | – | C+ | A | 27 min | $64,813 |
| Channelview | under 1% | C+ | C | 30 min | $64,422 |
| Spring | under 1% | B+ | B− | 34 min | $88,997 |
| Atascocita | under 1% | A− | B− | 35 min | $118,226 |
| Mission Bend | under 1% | B− | B | 32 min | $67,282 |
| Fresno | under 1% | A− | C− | 34 min | $91,264 |
| Cinco Ranch | under 1% | A | B | 30 min | $161,972 |
| Pearland | 1% | A+ | B− | 33 min | $118,842 |
| Pasadena | 2% | C | B | 27 min | $64,927 |
| Humble | under 1% | C+ | B+ | 33 min | $57,011 |
| Four Corners | under 1% | B | C+ | 39 min | $76,452 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Pasadena. Darker towns draw more of Houston’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 Houston: questions
What is the median household income in Houston?
$64,813 (±$822) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Houston?
19.9%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Houston?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Houston work?
65% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sugar Land (2%, 20 mi), Pasadena (2%, 17 mi), Austin (2%, 146 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Houston walkable?
Houston is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.9 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Houston without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 37% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Houston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Houston
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.