Photo: Jim Evans · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in La Porte (5.4%) is higher than in 67% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income La Porte is better than 59% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (C). About one in ten work in La Porte; the top destination outside it is Houston (30%, 22 miles). At home: 8% of workers have no commute at all (Texas 14%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in La Porte, in a few figures
La Porte and Houston trade workers both ways
Houston is the top workplace for La Porte residents (30%) and also where the most people who work in La Porte come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most jobs in La Porte pay over $40,000 a year
74% of the jobs based in La Porte pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in La Porte
Job access by car holds La Porte’s grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, La Porte could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Commuting out of La Porte: the destinations
Where La Porte clocks in
30% of workers
8% 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.
La Porte makes things: 32% of its jobs are in goods
21,757 jobs are based in La Porte.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in La Porte, 2013 → 2023: 17,459 → 21,757. 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 La Porte’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in La Porte, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 15,107 residents head out to work, 1,722 work right here, and 20,035 people come in from elsewhere.
About 43,000 people are in La Porte on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.29 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.
Commuting from La Porte: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of La Porte workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,595 commuters (the 8% 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 far La Porte goes to work
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.
La Porte is a driving town
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% 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 16,968 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 6.0% of La Porte households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of La Porte’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,096 U.S. towns of 27,000 to 51,000, La Porte comes 662nd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Keller TX | 46,078 | $175K | 3.4% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Coppell TX | 41,386 | $146K | 5.4% | 2.6% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 660 | Montgomery Village MD | 34,110 | $95K | 13.1% | 6.3% | 2% | B |
| 661 | Middletown CT | 48,439 | $79K | 12.0% | 4.7% | 17% | B |
| 662 | La Porte TX | 37,983 | $81K | 12.2% | 5.4% | 10% | B |
| 663 | Rowland Heights CA | 45,911 | $86K | 12.4% | 6.1% | 7% | B |
| 664 | St. Clair Township IL | 35,372 | $80K | 11.7% | 4.8% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,096 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 La Porte, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
19% of La Porte works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Pasadena (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | La Porte workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Porte | – | B | C | 24 min | $80,753 |
| Morgan's Point | under 1% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Pasadena | 11% | C | B | 27 min | $64,927 |
| Deer Park | 8% | B+ | B | 24 min | $100,382 |
| Shoreacres | under 1% | A+ | C− | 27 min | $130,815 |
Same-state neighbors only. Morgan's Point: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of La Porte’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 La Porte: questions
What is the median household income in La Porte?
$80,753 (±$5,023) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in La Porte?
12.2%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from La Porte?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in La Porte work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (30%, 22 mi), Pasadena (11%, 6 mi), Deer Park (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is La Porte walkable?
La Porte is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around La Porte without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from La Porte, from the people who make the trip.
More of La Porte
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.