Photo: Theunderratedtaco · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Mission (7.8%) is higher than in 87% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 21 minutes getting to work on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. For jobs and income Mission is better than 27% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (B−). Measured by household income, Mission is behind 73% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Mission: the gist
Mission trades workers with the towns around it
Mission has about as many jobs (27,071) as working residents (29,523), but they are mostly different people: 23,217 residents leave for work each day while 20,765 people come in. Only 23% of the jobs in Mission are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Mission and McAllen trade workers both ways
McAllen is the top workplace for Mission residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Mission come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Mission residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Commutes from Mission are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Many jobs in Mission pay little
26% of the jobs based in Mission pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Mission
Job access by car holds Mission’s grade up (ahead of 80% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mission could be anywhere from C− to C.
Mission on a workday afternoon
On a workday 23,217 residents head out to work, 6,306 work right here, and 20,765 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 (0.92 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.
26% of working residents work in McAllen
Where Mission clocks in
26% of workers
9% 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.
Where in the region Mission works
About 21% 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 Mission spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mission workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 30,374 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.
Inside Mission’s 27,071 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mission, 2013 → 2023: 25,354 → 27,071. 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’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Mission is a driving town
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.4% 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 33,755 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). 5.5% of Mission households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Mission’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Mission ranks: 462nd of 514 U.S. towns of 62,000 to 120,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Flower Mound TX | 79,540 | $161K | 4.3% | 3.4% | 10% | A+ |
| 12 | Celina TX | 64,427 | $171K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 460 | Lynchburg VA | 81,347 | $58K | 18.6% | 5.3% | 48% | C |
| 461 | Johnson City TN | 74,943 | $57K | 20.3% | 5.6% | 44% | C |
| 462 | Mission TX | 88,992 | $61K | 19.4% | 7.8% | 21% | C |
| 463 | Pine Hills FL | 80,105 | $59K | 17.5% | 11.6% | 2% | C |
| 464 | Harlingen TX | 72,467 | $54K | 25.1% | 5.2% | 41% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 514 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
The towns next door employ 26% of Mission
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mission workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission | – | C | B− | 21 min | $60,767 |
| La Homa | under 2% | D | C− | 24 min | $36,895 |
| McAllen | 26% | C | B | 22 min | $61,579 |
| West Sharyland | under 2% | C+ | D− | 25 min | $46,863 |
| Palmview | under 2% | C− | C+ | 20 min | $43,963 |
| Palmview South | under 2% | C− | B+ | 18 min | $29,167 |
| Abram | under 2% | C− | D− | 21 min | $58,846 |
| Palmhurst | under 2% | A− | C+ | 18 min | $98,125 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to McAllen. Darker towns draw more of Mission’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: questions
What is the median household income in Mission?
$60,767 (±$3,743) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mission?
19.4%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mission?
21 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 work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are McAllen (26%, 5 mi), Edinburg (9%, 13 mi), Pharr (6%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mission walkable?
Mission is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mission without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mission, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mission
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.