San Antonio draws about two in three of Kirby’s working residents
Kirby grades C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 7.5 in San Antonio.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Kirby stands out on work
More than half of Kirby works in San Antonio
1,992 working residents, 63%, have their main job in San Antonio, 8.4 miles away across the town line. That’s 63 times as many as work in Kirby itself. The commute map ↓
Jobs in Kirby have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Kirby went from 640 in 2013 to 1,459 in 2023, +128%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Kirby
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kirby is better than 44% of U.S. towns, #324 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Kirby’s grade up (ahead of 94% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($55,532, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kirby could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Where people from Kirby work
Where Kirby clocks in
63% of workers
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.
What work there is in Kirby: 1,459 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kirby, 2013 → 2023: 640 → 1,459. 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 Kirby’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Kirby by day
On a workday 3,141 residents head out to work, 31 work right here, and 1,428 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,500 people are in Kirby on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.46 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.
Time on the road from Kirby: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kirby workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,305 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Kirby
About 18% 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.
Kirby is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kirby is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #21 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Kirby near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,488 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 56% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 70% 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). 8.8% of Kirby households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Kirby’s commuters take a bus or train.
Kirby places 1,931st of 3,034 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 5,700 to 11,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Oak Point TX | 6,909 | $126K | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,929 | Leisure World MD | 8,882 | $62K | 9.3% | 9.3% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,930 | Kingston TN | 6,299 | $72K | 7.1% | 8.1% | 8% | C+ |
| 1,931 | Kirby TX | 8,211 | $56K | 13.5% | 5.1% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,932 | Ave Maria FL | 8,258 | $103K | 11.0% | 5.9% | 24% | C+ |
| 1,933 | Gresham Park GA | 6,935 | $71K | 19.5% | 5.8% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,034 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Kirby, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
63% of Kirby works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kirby workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirby | – | C+ | A | 24 min | $55,532 |
| San Antonio | 63% | C+ | A | 25 min | $65,056 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to San Antonio. Darker towns draw more of Kirby’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 Kirby: questions
What is the median household income in Kirby?
$55,532 (±$8,140) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kirby?
13.5%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kirby?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kirby work?
1% work in town.
Is Kirby walkable?
Kirby is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kirby without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kirby, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kirby
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.