With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Indian Lake works elsewhere
Indian Lake has 19 jobs, against 357 working residents. Hardly any work in Indian Lake itself; outside it, Brownsville draws the most (19%, 7 miles). The average commute takes 28 minutes each way (Texas 27, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Indian Lake: the figures worth knowing
Indian Lake is a place people come home to
There are 19 jobs based in Indian Lake, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Indian Lake has about 550 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Indian Lake and Brownsville trade workers both ways
Brownsville is the top workplace for Indian Lake residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Indian Lake come from (32% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 357 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Who works in Indian Lake, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 355 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 17 people come in from elsewhere.
About 550 people are in Indian Lake on a workday afternoon, 38% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Indian Lake: the destinations
Where Indian Lake clocks in
19% of workers
18% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Indian Lake, 2014 → 2024: 7 → 19. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Indian Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 28 minutes to work from Indian Lake
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Indian Lake workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 337 commuters (the 9% 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 many miles Indian Lake commutes
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Indian Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Indian Lake?
$25,982 (±$7,408) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Indian Lake?
49.7%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Indian Lake?
28 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Indian Lake work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Brownsville (19%, 7 mi), Harlingen (18%, 14 mi), Los Fresnos (8%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Indian Lake without a car?
1% 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 Indian Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Indian Lake
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.