Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Leonard (7.3%) is higher than in 84% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Leonard is behind 82% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Leonard is better than 16% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (B). Only 7% work in Leonard; the top destination outside it is McKinney (9%, 27 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Leonard: the gist
Leonard workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 40 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas. Over a year that’s about 307 hours of commuting, 100 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Leonard’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Leonard is McKinney, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (89) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Leonard has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Leonard went from 404 in 2013 to 583 in 2023, +44%. 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; with 955 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind Leonard’s grade
Job access by car holds Leonard’s grade up (ahead of 50% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Leonard could be anywhere from D to B−.
Commuting from Leonard: about 40 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Leonard workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 900 commuters (the 11% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Leonard
About 24% 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.
The kinds of work in Leonard
583 jobs are based in Leonard.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Leonard, 2013 → 2023: 404 → 583. 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 Leonard’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Leonard
On a workday 889 residents head out to work, 66 work right here, and 517 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Leonard on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.61 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.
Where the trip to work from Leonard ends
Where Leonard clocks in
9% 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.
Few in Leonard walk, bike or ride to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% 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 1,011 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). 2.2% of Leonard households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Leonard’s commuters take a bus or train.
Leonard is 4,434th of 5,641 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 3,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Southside Place TX | 1,916 | $163K | 5.0% | 5.4% | 2% | A+ |
| 26 | Shoreacres TX | 1,535 | $131K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,432 | Cadiz KY | 2,771 | $44K | 23.5% | 3.4% | 26% | C− |
| 4,433 | St. Stephen SC | 1,623 | $65K | 16.5% | 6.1% | 3% | C− |
| 4,434 | Leonard TX | 2,212 | $55K | 18.4% | 7.3% | 7% | C− |
| 4,435 | Chilhowie VA | 1,599 | $51K | 13.1% | 1.7% | 9% | C− |
| 4,436 | Lawrence Township PA | 1,618 | $60K | 15.9% | 6.9% | 7% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,641 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Leonard, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Work in the towns next to Leonard
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Leonard workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leonard | – | C− | B | 40 min | $54,717 |
| Trenton | under 3% | — | — | 30 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Trenton: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Leonard’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 Leonard: questions
What is the median household income in Leonard?
$54,717 (±$4,084) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Leonard?
18.4%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Leonard?
40 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Leonard work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are McKinney (9%, 27 mi), Dallas (7%, 51 mi), Bonham (6%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Leonard walkable?
Leonard is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Leonard without a car?
0% 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 Leonard, from the people who make the trip.
More of Leonard
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.