Photo: Judahdavis · Public domainUnemployment in Mission Bend (9.4%) is higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
The trip to work takes 32 minutes on average, next to 27 for Texas and 26 for the U.S. Measured by household income, Mission Bend is behind 62% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Mission Bend is better than 46% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (B). Employers in Mission Bend report 669 jobs, against 16,806 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Mission Bend at work: what stands out
More than half of Mission Bend works in Houston
9,650 working residents, 57%, have their main job in Houston, 18 miles away across the town line. That’s far more as work in Mission Bend itself. The commute map ↓
Mission Bend is a place people come home to
There are 669 jobs based in Mission Bend, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Mission Bend has about 20,000 people in it, 44% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Mission Bend than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Mission Bend fell from 976 in 2013 to 669 in 2023, −31%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Mission Bend pay little
29% of the jobs based in Mission Bend pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Mission Bend workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical 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.
What’s behind Mission Bend’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Mission Bend’s grade up (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mission Bend could be anywhere from C+ to B.
57% of working residents work in Houston
Where Mission Bend clocks in
57% 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.
In and out of Mission Bend on a workday
On a workday 16,729 residents head out to work, 77 work right here, and 592 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Mission Bend on a workday afternoon, 44% fewer than live here.
0.04 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mission Bend, 2013 → 2023: 976 → 669. 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 Mission Bend’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 32 minutes to work from Mission Bend
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mission Bend workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,962 commuters (the 10% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Mission Bend
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.
Mission Bend is a driving town
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% 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 16,616 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 39% 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 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 49% 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). 4.2% of Mission Bend households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Mission Bend’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Mission Bend is 830th of 1,131 U.S. towns of 26,000 to 49,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Keller TX | 46,078 | $175K | 3.4% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Coppell TX | 41,386 | $146K | 5.4% | 2.6% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 828 | North Miami Beach FL | 46,236 | $63K | 14.6% | 5.5% | 6% | B− |
| 829 | Findlay OH | 40,370 | $61K | 12.3% | 3.5% | 44% | B− |
| 830 | Mission Bend TX | 36,586 | $67K | 10.8% | 9.4% | <1% | B− |
| 831 | Oxford MS | 26,773 | $64K | 25.4% | 2.7% | 53% | B− |
| 832 | Garden City MI | 26,280 | $67K | 10.7% | 8.0% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,131 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Mission Bend, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Mission Bend and its neighbors: 57% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mission Bend workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission Bend | – | B− | B | 32 min | $67,282 |
| Houston | 57% | C+ | A | 27 min | $64,813 |
| Four Corners | under 1% | B | C+ | 39 min | $76,452 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Houston. Darker towns draw more of Mission Bend’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 Mission Bend: questions
What is the median household income in Mission Bend?
$67,282 (±$5,649) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mission Bend?
10.8%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mission Bend?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mission Bend work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (57%, 18 mi), Sugar Land (6%, 7 mi), Stafford (2%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mission Bend walkable?
Mission Bend is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mission Bend without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mission Bend, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mission Bend
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.