Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Lancaster (7.2%) is higher than in 84% of U.S. towns
Only 5% work in Lancaster; the top destination outside it is Dallas (36%, 14 miles). For jobs and income Lancaster is better than 43% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (C+). A typical one-way commute lasts 29 minutes, where Texas has 27 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Lancaster, in a few figures
A lot of Lancaster works one town over
39% of working residents work in a town that borders Lancaster: Dallas (36%) and DeSoto (3%). Next door ↓
Lancaster has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Lancaster went from 8,713 in 2013 to 12,987 in 2023, +49%. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
43% of the jobs in Lancaster are in trade, transport and utilities, against 26% of the jobs its residents hold. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Lancaster
Job access by car holds Lancaster’s grade up (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lancaster could be anywhere from C to B.
Inside Lancaster’s 12,987 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lancaster, 2013 → 2023: 8,713 → 12,987. 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 Lancaster’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Lancaster: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 18,386 residents head out to work, 995 work right here, and 11,992 people come in from elsewhere.
About 34,000 people are in Lancaster on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.67 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.
Out of Lancaster to work: where people go
Where Lancaster clocks in
5% 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.
Time on the road from Lancaster: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lancaster workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,250 commuters (the 9% 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 distance from Lancaster 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.
In Lancaster, the car does most of the work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% 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 17,833 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 25% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 5% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 57% 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). 3.7% of Lancaster households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Lancaster’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Lancaster is 842nd of 1,101 U.S. towns of 28,000 to 55,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Keller TX | 46,078 | $175K | 3.4% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Coppell TX | 41,386 | $146K | 5.4% | 2.6% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 840 | Lansing IL | 28,068 | $76K | 14.0% | 9.8% | 7% | C+ |
| 841 | Hamilton Township NJ | 28,845 | $79K | 8.8% | 10.8% | 10% | C+ |
| 842 | Lancaster TX | 40,526 | $68K | 15.0% | 7.2% | 5% | C+ |
| 843 | Massillon OH | 32,168 | $56K | 13.9% | 4.4% | 18% | C+ |
| 844 | Bloomington Township IN | 46,702 | $45K | 33.6% | 6.3% | 32% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,101 | 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 Lancaster, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
39% of Lancaster works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lancaster workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster | – | C+ | C+ | 29 min | $68,302 |
| Wilmer | under 2% | C− | D | 33 min | $59,626 |
| Dallas | 36% | B− | A | 26 min | $70,518 |
| Hutchins | under 2% | B− | C | 32 min | $47,829 |
| DeSoto | 3% | B | B | 31 min | $82,782 |
| Red Oak | under 2% | A− | C− | 27 min | $104,561 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Dallas. Darker towns draw more of Lancaster’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 Lancaster: questions
What is the median household income in Lancaster?
$68,302 (±$8,153) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lancaster?
15.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lancaster?
29 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lancaster work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dallas (36%, 14 mi), Irving (5%, 21 mi), Fort Worth (4%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lancaster walkable?
Lancaster is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lancaster without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 5% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lancaster, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lancaster
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.