Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Junction are lower than in 89% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 15.7%; Texas has 13.8%. Jobs and income earn Junction C−; getting around on foot earns it B. 5% 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
What sets Junction apart on work
Most jobs in Junction go to people who live here
Of the 846 jobs based in Junction, 52% are held by Junction residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Junction 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
40% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Junction workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Junction’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 17% 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.
Jobs & income in Junction: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Junction is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #503 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Junction’s grade up (2.1%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Junction could be anywhere from D to C+.
Junction by day and by night
On a workday 568 residents head out to work, 441 work right here, and 405 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.84 per resident).
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 19 minutes each way, quicker than most of Texas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Junction workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,170 commuters (the 5% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Junction
About 40% 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.
What Junction’s employers do
846 jobs are based in Junction.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Junction, 2013 → 2023: 878 → 846. 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 Junction’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Junction goes to work
Where Junction clocks in
3% 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.
Most trips from Junction start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Junction is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #223 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% 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 1,229 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). 8.4% of Junction households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Junction’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Junction ranks: 3,633rd of 4,868 U.S. towns of 1,800 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Southside Place TX | 1,916 | $163K | 5.0% | 5.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,631 | Ely MN | 3,231 | $44K | 13.9% | 2.5% | 45% | C− |
| 3,632 | Four Oaks NC | 2,978 | $73K | 15.3% | 8.3% | 3% | C− |
| 3,633 | Junction TX | 2,513 | $49K | 15.7% | 2.1% | 44% | C− |
| 3,634 | Otter Creek Township IL | 2,623 | $84K | 25.1% | 6.3% | 1% | C− |
| 3,635 | Rosemount OH | 2,199 | $42K | 13.3% | 4.2% | 3% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,868 | 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 Junction, 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 Junction: questions
What is the median household income in Junction?
$49,041 (±$17,471) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Junction?
15.7%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Junction?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Junction work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kerrville (3%, 50 mi), Lubbock (2%, 246 mi), San Angelo (2%, 77 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Junction walkable?
Junction is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Junction without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Junction, from the people who make the trip.
More of Junction
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.