Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Austin draws about half of Kyle’s working residents
For jobs and income Kyle is better than 78% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (C−). Only 5% work in Kyle; the top destination outside it is Austin (45%, 22 miles). The average commute takes 36 minutes each way (Texas 27, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Kyle in brief
Jobs in Kyle have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Kyle went from 3,551 in 2013 to 8,913 in 2023, +151%. The jobs ↓
Nearly half of Kyle works in Austin
11,265 working residents, 45%, have their main job in Austin, 22 miles away. That’s 9 times as many as work in Kyle itself. The commute map ↓
Kyle workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (24 to 30 minutes). Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Kyle
68% of Kyle residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 44% of the jobs based in Kyle pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
37% of the jobs based in Kyle are held by workers 29 or younger, against 24% of Kyle’s own working residents. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Kyle’s grade explained
Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (8.9%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kyle could be anywhere from B+ to A.
What work there is in Kyle: 8,913 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kyle, 2013 → 2023: 3,551 → 8,913. 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 Kyle’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Kyle goes to work
Where Kyle clocks in
45% of workers
8% of workers
4% 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 Kyle: about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kyle workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 27,440 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.
The daily commute in and out of Kyle
On a workday 23,816 residents head out to work, 1,333 work right here, and 7,580 people come in from elsewhere.
About 54,000 people are in Kyle on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
0.35 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.
How far Kyle goes to work
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.
In Kyle, the car does most of the work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% 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 31,596 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). 2.0% of Kyle households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Kyle’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Kyle ranks: 209th of 634 U.S. towns of 49,000 to 94,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Flower Mound TX | 79,540 | $161K | 4.3% | 3.4% | 10% | A+ |
| 15 | Celina TX | 64,427 | $171K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 207 | South Hill WA | 68,025 | $113K | 7.2% | 4.2% | 4% | A− |
| 208 | Missouri City TX | 77,327 | $94K | 7.1% | 4.9% | 4% | A− |
| 209 | Kyle TX | 69,917 | $90K | 8.9% | 3.1% | 5% | A− |
| 210 | Smyrna GA | 57,513 | $100K | 10.6% | 3.7% | 5% | A− |
| 211 | Farmington Hills MI | 83,291 | $105K | 7.6% | 5.2% | 11% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 634 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Kyle, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Next door is work for 11% of Kyle
The biggest share goes to San Marcos (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kyle workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle | – | A− | C− | 36 min | $90,323 |
| Buda | 3% | A | C− | 29 min | $123,766 |
| San Marcos | 8% | C+ | A− | 24 min | $51,281 |
| Mountain City | under 1% | — | — | 30 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Mountain City: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kyle’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 Kyle: questions
What is the median household income in Kyle?
$90,323 (±$2,858) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kyle?
8.9%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kyle?
36 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kyle work?
5% work in town.
Is Kyle walkable?
Kyle is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kyle without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kyle, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kyle
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.