Photo: United States Air Force · Public domainLaughlin AFB has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
The two grades for Laughlin AFB are B− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. There are 186 jobs in Laughlin AFB, against 350 working residents. Poverty touches 3.1% of residents, against 13.8% across Texas.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Laughlin AFB in brief
A big share show a job far from home
66% 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 ↓
Commutes from Laughlin AFB are quick
The average trip to work takes 8 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 146 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Laughlin AFB and Del Rio trade workers both ways
Del Rio is the top workplace for Laughlin AFB residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Laughlin AFB come from (19% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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 350 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Laughlin AFB gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Laughlin AFB is better than 49% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Laughlin AFB’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 17% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (7.3%) is left out: Laughlin AFB’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Laughlin AFB could be anywhere from C to B.
Where in the region Laughlin AFB works
About 66% 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.
A commute of about 8 minutes in Laughlin AFB
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 2.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Laughlin AFB workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,073 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.
28% of working residents work in Del Rio
Where Laughlin AFB clocks in
28% of workers
8% 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 commute in and out of Laughlin AFB
On a workday 348 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 184 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Laughlin AFB on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
75% of the jobs in Laughlin AFB pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Laughlin AFB, 2013 → 2023: 216 → 186. 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 Laughlin AFB’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Laughlin AFB, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Laughlin AFB is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 24.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.0% across Texas, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,172 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). 0.0% of Laughlin AFB households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Laughlin AFB’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,200, Laughlin AFB ranks 2,358th of 6,161 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Seis Lagos TX | 1,391 | $249K | 1.2% | 4.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Rollingwood TX | 1,466 | $240K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| 29 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,356 | Montague Township MI | 1,576 | $91K | 11.4% | 10.5% | 3% | B− |
| 2,357 | Logan Elm Village OH | 1,214 | $85K | 12.3% | 1.4% | <1% | B− |
| 2,358 | Laughlin AFB TX | 1,595 | $67K | 3.1% | 7.3% | 1% | B− |
| 2,359 | Bruceville-Eddy TX | 1,483 | $76K | 12.6% | 2.4% | 3% | B− |
| 2,360 | Star City WV | 1,795 | $59K | 17.8% | 1.9% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,161 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Laughlin AFB, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Bordering towns draw 28% of Laughlin AFB’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Laughlin AFB workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laughlin AFB | – | B− | B+ | 8 min | $67,208 |
| Del Rio | 28% | C− | B+ | 19 min | $66,158 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Del Rio. Darker towns draw more of Laughlin AFB’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 Laughlin AFB: questions
What is the median household income in Laughlin AFB?
$67,208 (±$14,275) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Laughlin AFB?
3.1%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Laughlin AFB?
8 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Laughlin AFB work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Del Rio (28%, 6 mi), San Antonio (8%, 136 mi), Austin (7%, 192 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Laughlin AFB walkable?
Laughlin AFB is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 24% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Laughlin AFB without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Laughlin AFB, from the people who make the trip.
More of Laughlin AFB
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.