Irion County Courthouse · Photo: Caesarscott · CC BY-SA 3.0Work and commuting in Mertzon
About one in ten stay in Mertzon for work; outside it, San Angelo is the main destination (23%, 25 miles). 3% of workers have no commute at all, against 14% across Texas. The trip to work takes 30 minutes on average, where Texas has 27 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Mertzon in brief
Mertzon and San Angelo trade workers both ways
San Angelo is the top workplace for Mertzon residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Mertzon come from (33% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
48% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Few Mertzon workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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; with 271 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Mertzon’s working residents head each day
Where Mertzon clocks in
7% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Mertzon
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.
How long Mertzon spends getting to work: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mertzon workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 371 commuters (the 3% 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.
A workday in Mertzon: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 243 residents head out to work, 28 work right here, and 206 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Goods jobs make up 73% of work in Mertzon
234 jobs are based in Mertzon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mertzon, 2013 → 2023: 228 → 234. 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 Mertzon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Mertzon: questions
What is the median household income in Mertzon?
$67,500 (±$26,074) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mertzon?
6.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mertzon?
30 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mertzon work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Angelo (23%, 25 mi), Midland (7%, 92 mi), Odessa (5%, 99 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Mertzon without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mertzon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mertzon
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.