Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0At 5.3%, unemployment in Kountze is higher than in 65% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Kountze are C for jobs and income and C for walkability. For 3% of workers, the job is at home, against 14% across Texas. About one in ten work in Kountze; the top destination outside it is Beaumont (23%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Kountze and work: the main findings
Kountze’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Kountze is Beaumont, 22 miles away as the crow flies. 23% of working residents (176) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% 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 ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Kountze
57% of Kountze residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 35% of the jobs based in Kountze pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 92% leave town for their job. 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 781 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Kountze’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kountze is better than 34% of U.S. towns. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Kountze’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kountze could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Kountze’s commute, mile by mile
About 32% 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.
The 508 jobs based in Kountze
508 jobs are based in Kountze.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kountze, 2013 → 2023: 729 → 508. 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 Kountze’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Kountze by day
On a workday 717 residents head out to work, 64 work right here, and 444 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Kountze on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.65 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.
Commuting out of Kountze: the destinations
Where Kountze clocks in
23% of workers
7% 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 Kountze: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kountze workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,004 commuters (the 3% 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.
Most of Kountze commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kountze is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,034 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). 3.8% of Kountze households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Kountze’s commuters take a bus or train.
Kountze is 3,156th of 5,404 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Southside Place TX | 1,916 | $163K | 5.0% | 5.4% | 2% | A+ |
| 24 | Shoreacres TX | 1,535 | $131K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,154 | Weedsport NY | 1,760 | $71K | 16.6% | 1.1% | 6% | C |
| 3,155 | Plymouth OH | 1,702 | $74K | 13.8% | 6.1% | 2% | C |
| 3,156 | Kountze TX | 2,127 | $66K | 11.5% | 5.3% | 8% | C |
| 3,157 | Owen Township IN | 1,630 | $75K | 8.0% | 1.1% | 1% | C |
| 3,158 | Ruhenstroth NV | 1,682 | $105K | 14.1% | 0.4% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | 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 Kountze, 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 Kountze: questions
What is the median household income in Kountze?
$65,969 (±$4,027) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kountze?
11.5%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kountze?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kountze work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Beaumont (23%, 22 mi), Houston (7%, 76 mi), Silsbee (7%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kountze walkable?
Kountze is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kountze without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kountze, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kountze
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.