Photo: Photolitherland Chris Litherland · CC BY 3.0A job hub: Livingston has 2.2 jobs per working resident, and 4,155 people come in to work
4,519 jobs are based in Livingston for 2,047 working residents. Livingston grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Measured by household income, Livingston is behind 89% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Livingston and work: the main findings
Livingston’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Livingston is Houston, 69 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (275) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Livingston is where the jobs are
Livingston has 4,519 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 7,900 people are in town, 46% more than the 5,400 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Livingston are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
45% 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 ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Livingston
56% of Livingston residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 38% of the jobs based in Livingston pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 82% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Jobs & income in Livingston: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Livingston is better than 12% of U.S. towns, #578 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Livingston’s grade up (4.3%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (27.5%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Livingston could be anywhere from D− to C.
How far Livingston’s workers travel
About 45% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Livingston on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,683 residents head out to work and 364 work right here.
About 7,900 people are in Livingston on a workday afternoon, 46% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
A commute of about 17 minutes in Livingston
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Livingston workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,326 commuters (the 4% 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 kinds of work in Livingston
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Livingston, 2014 → 2024: 4,227 → 4,519. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Livingston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the people who work in Livingston live
Where Livingston clocks in
13% of workers
3% of workers
3% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Livingston
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Livingston is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #62 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Livingston 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 2,428 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). 8.5% of Livingston households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Livingston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Livingston next to U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Garden Ridge TX | 4,371 | $177K | 0.4% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,203 | Canton NY | 6,894 | $62K | 19.8% | 6.5% | 29% | D |
| 3,204 | Pauls Valley OK | 6,157 | $50K | 24.4% | 5.2% | 34% | D |
| 3,205 | Livingston TX | 5,386 | $49K | 27.5% | 4.3% | 18% | D |
| 3,206 | Walnut Ridge AR | 5,478 | $45K | 25.6% | 5.0% | 26% | D |
| 3,207 | Coquille OR | 3,943 | $58K | 19.8% | 4.7% | 20% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,541 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Livingston, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Next door to Livingston
The biggest share goes to West Livingston (1%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Livingston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Livingston | – | D | A− | 17 min | $48,841 |
| West Livingston | 1% | D | D | 35 min | $61,943 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Livingston’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 2024, 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 Livingston: questions
What is the median household income in Livingston?
$48,841 (±$7,435) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Livingston?
27.5%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Livingston?
17 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Livingston work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (13%, 69 mi), Huntsville (3%, 37 mi), Lufkin (3%, 44 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Livingston walkable?
Livingston is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Livingston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Livingston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Livingston
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.