Matagorda Cemetery · Photo: Jagarrison78 · CC BY-SA 4.0Matagorda draws 1,150 commuters a day, with 8.1 jobs for every working resident
Home is the office for 0% of workers, against 14% across Texas. Matagorda has 1,166 jobs, against 144 working residents. About one in ten work in Matagorda itself; outside it, Houston draws the most (26%, 83 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Matagorda: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 128 residents head out to work and 16 work right here.
About 1,200 people are in Matagorda on a workday afternoon, 562% 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where Matagorda’s workers come from
Where Matagorda clocks in
26% of workers
10% of workers
2% 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.
88% of the jobs in Matagorda pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Matagorda, 2013 → 2023: 1,193 → 1,166. 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 Matagorda’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Matagorda
of Matagorda workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 20 commuters (the 0% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Matagorda
About 65% 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 Matagorda: questions
What is the median household income in Matagorda?
$14,145 (±$8,496) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Matagorda?
75.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Matagorda work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (26%, 83 mi), Bay City (10%, 20 mi), Victoria (2%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Matagorda without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Matagorda, from the people who make the trip.
More of Matagorda
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.