Melissa has higher household incomes than 93% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 29% of workers, where Texas as a whole has 14%. Poverty touches 1.9% of residents, next to 13.8% for Texas as a whole. Melissa grades A+ for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Melissa stands out on work
Jobs in Melissa have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Melissa went from 999 in 2013 to 2,458 in 2023, +146%. The jobs ↓
A lot of Melissa works from home
29% of Melissa workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Time on the road ↓
Melissa’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Melissa is Dallas, 36 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (1,394) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Melissa workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Melissa is a place people come home to
There are 2,458 jobs based in Melissa, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Melissa’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Melissa is better than 96% of U.S. towns, #41 of 642 in Texas. The poverty rate is its strongest input; unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Melissa could be anywhere from A to A+.
What the 2,458 jobs in Melissa are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Melissa, 2013 → 2023: 999 → 2,458. 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 Melissa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Melissa: about 34 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Melissa workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,040 commuters (the 29% 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.
Melissa’s commute, mile by mile
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.
The daily flow of workers through Melissa
On a workday 8,325 residents head out to work, 228 work right here, and 2,230 people come in from elsewhere.
About 24,000 people are in Melissa on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.29 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
16% of working residents work in Dallas
Where Melissa clocks in
13% 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.
Few in Melissa walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Melissa is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns, #453 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% 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 9,973 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.4% of Melissa households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Melissa’s commuters take a bus or train.
Melissa next to U.S. towns of 21,000 to 40,000: 79th of 1,366 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 4 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Colleyville TX | 25,727 | $218K | 2.5% | 3.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Corinth TX | 25,297 | $121K | 3.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 77 | Crofton MD | 29,549 | $151K | 2.9% | 3.7% | 5% | A+ |
| 78 | Ilchester MD | 28,364 | $152K | 5.1% | 3.0% | 3% | A+ |
| 79 | Melissa TX | 29,969 | $139K | 1.9% | 3.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 80 | New Berlin WI | 39,953 | $101K | 4.1% | 2.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 81 | Fort Mill SC | 38,673 | $122K | 4.8% | 2.3% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,366 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Melissa, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Next door is work for 13% of Melissa
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to McKinney. Darker towns draw more of Melissa’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 Melissa: questions
What is the median household income in Melissa?
$138,763 (±$7,782) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Melissa?
1.9%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Melissa?
34 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 29% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Melissa work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dallas (16%, 36 mi), McKinney (13%, 9 mi), Plano (13%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Melissa walkable?
Melissa is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Melissa without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Melissa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Melissa
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.