Photo: en:User:Austinallison · CC BY 3.0Hardly anyone in Muleshoe is out of work
Home is the office for 4% of workers (Texas 14%). The two grades for Muleshoe are B− for jobs and income and C for walkability. About one in four work in Muleshoe itself; outside it, Lubbock draws the most (8%, 67 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Muleshoe apart
Muleshoe’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Muleshoe is Lubbock, 67 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (180) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Muleshoe are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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 Muleshoe workers work from home
Only 4% 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Muleshoe
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Muleshoe is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #305 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Muleshoe’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Muleshoe could be anywhere from C to B+.
Muleshoe’s commute, mile by mile
About 36% 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.
From Muleshoe, about 19 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Muleshoe workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,102 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.
Muleshoe quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,511 residents head out to work, 642 work right here, and 847 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,500 people are in Muleshoe on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.69 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 Muleshoe: the destinations
Where Muleshoe clocks in
5% of workers
2% 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.
What Muleshoe’s employers do
1,489 jobs are based in Muleshoe.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Muleshoe, 2013 → 2023: 1,691 → 1,489. 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 Muleshoe’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Muleshoe: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Muleshoe is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns, #463 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 2,178 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). 12.3% of Muleshoe households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Muleshoe’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Muleshoe ranks: 2,089th of 3,696 U.S. towns of 3,600 to 7,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 7 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,087 | Moapa Valley NV | 6,684 | $89K | 5.8% | 4.1% | 13% | B− |
| 2,088 | Pass Christian MS | 6,459 | $78K | 8.4% | 5.6% | 10% | B− |
| 2,089 | Muleshoe TX | 5,162 | $69K | 10.6% | 0.0% | 30% | B− |
| 2,090 | Brown Township PA | 4,187 | $80K | 16.9% | 1.8% | 9% | B− |
| 2,091 | Stock Island FL | 4,162 | $66K | 11.5% | 1.8% | 9% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,696 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Muleshoe, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
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 Muleshoe: questions
What is the median household income in Muleshoe?
$69,097 (±$18,288) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Muleshoe?
10.6%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Muleshoe?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Muleshoe work?
30% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lubbock (8%, 67 mi), Amarillo (5%, 84 mi), Clovis (2%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Muleshoe walkable?
Muleshoe is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Muleshoe without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Muleshoe, from the people who make the trip.
More of Muleshoe
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.