Gage Hotel · Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainWork, pay and getting to work in Marathon
Commuters spend 27 minutes getting to work on average, next to 27 for Texas and 26 for the U.S. Only 7% work in Marathon; the top destination outside it is Alpine (19%, 27 miles). There are 185 jobs in Marathon for 118 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How many people are in Marathon by day
On a workday 110 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 177 people come in from elsewhere.
About 350 people are in Marathon on a workday afternoon, 24% more than live here.
1.6 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where Marathon’s workforce comes from
Where Marathon clocks in
19% of workers
8% of workers
5% 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 Marathon
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Marathon, 2013 → 2023: 380 → 185. 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 Marathon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Marathon: about 27 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Marathon workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 160 commuters (the 16% 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 distance from Marathon to work
About 67% 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.
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 Marathon: questions
What is the median household income in Marathon?
$45,635 (±$6,749) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Marathon?
17.7%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Marathon?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Marathon work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Alpine (19%, 27 mi), Terlingua (8%, 68 mi), Midland (5%, 141 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Marathon 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 Marathon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Marathon
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.