Mikes has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
Jobs and income earn Mikes D; getting around on foot earns it D−. 72 jobs are based in Mikes, against 288 working residents. Household incomes here are lower than in 89% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Mikes
Mikes and Rio Grande City trade workers both ways
Rio Grande City is the top workplace for Mikes residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Mikes come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Mikes is a place people come home to
There are 72 jobs based in Mikes, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Mikes are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. 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 288 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Mikes’ grade
On income, poverty and job access, Mikes is better than 12% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Mikes’ grade up (ahead of 40% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($49,375, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (2.9%) is left out: Mikes’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Mikes could be anywhere from D to B+.
17% of working residents work in Rio Grande City
Where Mikes clocks in
10% of workers
6% 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.
Mikes quiets down on a workday
On a workday 287 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 71 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Mikes on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer 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.
The trip to work from Mikes: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mikes workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 713 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Mikes
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
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 Mikes’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Mikes’ workers travel
About 29% 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.
In Mikes, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mikes is near the bottom of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Mikes near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 713 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 24.5% of Mikes households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mikes’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,760 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300, Mikes comes 4,623rd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Seis Lagos TX | 1,391 | $249K | 1.2% | 4.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Rollingwood TX | 1,466 | $240K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| 26 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,621 | Franklin Township OH | 1,432 | $41K | 11.9% | 5.4% | 0% | D |
| 4,622 | North Corbin KY | 2,190 | $51K | 34.0% | 1.3% | 3% | D |
| 4,623 | Mikes TX | 1,688 | $49K | 19.8% | 2.9% | <1% | D |
| 4,624 | Anderson Island WA | 1,448 | $80K | 23.1% | 0.0% | 4% | D |
| 4,625 | Kentland IN | 1,631 | $60K | 14.4% | 20.1% | 22% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Mikes, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Mikes and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mikes workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mikes | – | D | D− | 18 min | $49,375 |
| La Paloma Ranchettes | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. La Paloma Ranchettes: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mikes’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 Mikes: questions
What is the median household income in Mikes?
$49,375 (±$30,753) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mikes?
19.8%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mikes?
18 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mikes work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rio Grande City (17%, 12 mi), McAllen (10%, 25 mi), Edinburg (6%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mikes walkable?
Mikes is near the bottom of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 2.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mikes without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 24% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mikes, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mikes
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.