Liberty County Courthouse · Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Households in Liberty earn less than those in 83% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Liberty is better than 22% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (B−). 25.2% of residents are in poverty, against 13.8% across Texas. 6% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Liberty, in brief
Liberty trades workers with the towns around it
Liberty has about as many jobs (3,347) as working residents (3,388), but they are mostly different people: 2,993 residents leave for work each day while 2,952 people come in. Only 12% of the jobs in Liberty are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Liberty’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Liberty is Houston, 40 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (753) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Liberty
Unemployment holds Liberty’s grade up (4.2%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Liberty could be anywhere from D to B.
How a workday changes Liberty
On a workday 2,993 residents head out to work, 395 work right here, and 2,952 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.99 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.
How far Liberty goes to work
About 27% 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.
Out of Liberty to work: where people go
Where Liberty clocks in
22% of workers
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.
The kinds of work in Liberty
3,347 jobs are based in Liberty.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Liberty, 2013 → 2023: 3,842 → 3,347. 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 Liberty’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Liberty: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Liberty workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,720 commuters (the 6% 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.
In Liberty, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% 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 2,903 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). 5.5% of Liberty households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Liberty’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Liberty is 2,410th of 2,855 U.S. towns of 6,400 to 12,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Oak Point TX | 6,909 | $126K | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,408 | Olney IL | 8,347 | $60K | 14.2% | 4.7% | 34% | C− |
| 2,409 | Aliquippa PA | 9,002 | $50K | 22.9% | 6.8% | 9% | C− |
| 2,410 | Liberty TX | 9,133 | $54K | 25.2% | 4.2% | 12% | C− |
| 2,411 | Winchendon MA | 10,620 | $76K | 18.5% | 6.7% | 11% | C− |
| 2,412 | Maryville MO | 10,092 | $53K | 24.4% | 2.7% | 46% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,855 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Liberty, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Liberty and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Dayton (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Liberty’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 Liberty: questions
What is the median household income in Liberty?
$53,833 (±$23,382) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Liberty?
25.2%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Liberty?
25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Liberty work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (22%, 40 mi), Dayton (5%, 9 mi), Baytown (4%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Liberty walkable?
Liberty is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Liberty without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Liberty, from the people who make the trip.
More of Liberty
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.