Mertens at work: jobs, income and the commute
Working residents average 49 minutes each way, next to 27 for Texas and 26 for the U.S. For 0% of workers, the job is at home, next to 14% for Texas as a whole. Hardly any stay in Mertens for work; outside it, Hillsboro is the main destination (13%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Mertens on a workday afternoon
On a workday 54 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 0 people come in from elsewhere.
About 100 people are in Mertens on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
0.00 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.
Commuting out of Mertens: the destinations
Where Mertens clocks in
13% of workers
7% 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.
Each way, about 49 minutes from Mertens
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mertens workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 49 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.
The distance from Mertens to work
About 48% 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 Mertens: questions
What is the median household income in Mertens?
$43,000 (±$14,138) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mertens?
10.9%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mertens?
49 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mertens work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hillsboro (13%, 13 mi), Houston (7%, 181 mi), Dallas (6%, 51 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Mertens 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 Mertens, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mertens
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.