Photo: A Yee · CC BY 2.0Leander’s household incomes are higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
5.8% of residents are in poverty, against 13.8% across Texas. Leander grades A for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Home is the office for 31% of workers, against 14% across Texas.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Leander at work: what stands out
Home offices are common in Leander
31% of Leander workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Time on the road ↓
Leander has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Leander went from 9,335 in 2013 to 17,555 in 2023, +88%. The jobs ↓
44% of Leander works in Austin
15,699 working residents, 44%, have their main job in Austin, 20 miles away. That’s 5 times as many as work in Leander itself. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Jobs & income in Leander: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Leander is better than 91% of U.S. towns, #72 of 642 in Texas. Household income is its strongest input ($139,048, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Leander could be anywhere from A− to A+.
From Leander, about 29 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Leander workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 28,161 commuters (the 31% 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.
What work there is in Leander: 17,555 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Leander, 2013 → 2023: 9,335 → 17,555. 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 Leander’s own residents hold wherever they work.
44% of working residents work in Austin
Where Leander clocks in
44% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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.
How a workday changes Leander
On a workday 32,164 residents head out to work, 3,289 work right here, and 14,266 people come in from elsewhere.
About 73,000 people are in Leander on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.50 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 Leander’s workers travel
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.
Getting around Leander: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Leander is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns, #318 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Leander near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 40,602 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 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 54% 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). 1.8% of Leander households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Leander’s commuters take a bus or train.
45th of 491: where Leander ranks among U.S. towns of 64,000 to 123,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Flower Mound TX | 79,540 | $161K | 4.3% | 3.4% | 10% | A+ |
| 12 | Celina TX | 64,427 | $171K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Canton Township MI | 99,714 | $121K | 5.5% | 3.6% | 8% | A |
| 44 | Shawnee KS | 69,848 | $110K | 5.3% | 3.3% | 9% | A |
| 45 | Leander TX | 91,132 | $139K | 5.8% | 3.4% | 9% | A |
| 46 | Woodbury MN | 81,558 | $125K | 5.3% | 3.9% | 11% | A |
| 47 | League City TX | 119,905 | $121K | 5.4% | 3.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 491 | 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 Leander, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
The towns around Leander
The biggest share goes to Cedar Park (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Leander workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leander | – | A | B− | 29 min | $139,048 |
| Cedar Park | 6% | A | B+ | 26 min | $129,545 |
| Jonestown | under 1% | A+ | C− | 36 min | $128,224 |
| Georgetown | 2% | B+ | C+ | 28 min | $95,062 |
| Liberty Hill | 1% | A | C | 34 min | $115,096 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Leander’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 Leander: questions
What is the median household income in Leander?
$139,048 (±$5,055) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Leander?
5.8%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Leander?
29 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 31% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Leander work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Austin (44%, 20 mi), Round Rock (6%, 12 mi), Cedar Park (6%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Leander walkable?
Leander is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Leander without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Leander, from the people who make the trip.
More of Leander
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.