Photo: Stedil · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 2.2 jobs in Magnolia for every working resident, and 4,848 people commute in
5,031 jobs are based in Magnolia, against 2,282 working residents. The two grades for Magnolia are A− for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in ten stay in Magnolia for work; outside it, Houston is the main destination (34%, 36 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Magnolia: the gist
Magnolia draws workers from far and wide
The 5,031 jobs in Magnolia are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 17%; the other 79% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Magnolia is where the jobs are
Magnolia has 5,031 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Magnolia has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Magnolia went from 3,255 in 2014 to 5,031 in 2024, +55%. The jobs ↓
One in three of Magnolia works in Houston
774 working residents, 34%, have their main job in Houston, 36 miles away. That’s 4 times as many as work in Magnolia itself. The commute map ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Magnolia gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Magnolia is better than 83% of U.S. towns, #133 of 642 in Texas. The poverty rate is its strongest input (5.0%, U.S. 12.5%); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($78,605, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Magnolia could be anywhere from B− to A+.
Where Magnolia’s workforce comes from
Where Magnolia clocks in
34% 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.
Magnolia by day and by night
On a workday 2,099 residents head out to work and 183 work right here.
About 11,000 people are in Magnolia on a workday afternoon, 34% more than live here.
2.2 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The kinds of work in Magnolia
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Magnolia, 2014 → 2024: 3,255 → 5,031. 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 Magnolia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Magnolia spends getting to work: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Magnolia workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,082 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 Magnolia
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.
Magnolia is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Magnolia is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns, #201 of 642 in Texas. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.0% across Texas, on an EPA index of 6.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,327 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). 13.0% of Magnolia households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Magnolia’s commuters take a bus or train.
Magnolia places 675th of 2,966 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 5,700 to 10,900
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Oak Point TX | 6,909 | $126K | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 673 | Mukwonago WI | 8,544 | $98K | 4.2% | 4.5% | 11% | A− |
| 674 | Easton CT | 7,838 | $223K | 6.9% | 4.8% | 8% | A− |
| 675 | Magnolia TX | 8,095 | $79K | 5.0% | 2.4% | 8% | A− |
| 676 | Garden Home-Whitford OR | 6,979 | $98K | 5.9% | 4.0% | 1% | A− |
| 677 | Amityville NY | 9,799 | $106K | 11.2% | 3.1% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,966 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Magnolia, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
How Magnolia compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Magnolia’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 Magnolia: questions
What is the median household income in Magnolia?
$78,605 (±$11,319) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Magnolia?
5.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Magnolia?
31 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Magnolia work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (34%, 36 mi), Conroe (5%, 17 mi), The Woodlands (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Magnolia walkable?
Magnolia is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Magnolia without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Magnolia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Magnolia
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.