Photo: Patrick Feller from Humble, Texas, USA · CC BY 2.0More people are out of work in Newton (9.7%) than in 94% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Newton is behind 80% of U.S. towns. Newton grades D− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Home is the office for 6% of workers, against 14% across Texas.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Newton apart on work
A big share show a job far from home
55% 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 ↓
Newton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 41 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas. Over a year that’s about 314 hours of commuting, 107 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Newton than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Newton fell from 488 in 2013 to 285 in 2023, −42%. 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 ↓
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 565 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Newton gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Newton is better than 3% of U.S. towns. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Newton’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Newton could be anywhere from D− to C.
The commute from Newton, by distance
About 55% 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.
Newton’s commute takes about 41 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Newton workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 923 commuters (the 6% 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.
What the 285 jobs in Newton are
285 jobs are based in Newton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Newton, 2013 → 2023: 488 → 285. 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 Newton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Newton on a workday
On a workday 506 residents head out to work, 59 work right here, and 226 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Newton on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.50 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.
13% of working residents work in Jasper
Where Newton clocks in
13% of workers
10% 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.
Few in Newton walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Newton is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns. 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 983 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). 7.9% of Newton households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Newton’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Newton compares with U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Seis Lagos TX | 1,391 | $249K | 1.2% | 4.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Rollingwood TX | 1,466 | $240K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| 29 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,791 | Yemassee SC | 1,145 | $45K | 27.3% | 7.3% | 5% | D− |
| 5,792 | Naples TX | 1,409 | $35K | 25.7% | 11.3% | 5% | D− |
| 5,793 | Newton TX | 1,595 | $56K | 25.4% | 9.7% | 10% | D− |
| 5,794 | Kilmarnock VA | 1,457 | $40K | 23.1% | 2.8% | 16% | D− |
| 5,795 | Osage Township MO | 1,660 | $52K | 25.5% | 6.3% | 13% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,161 | 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 Newton, 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 Newton: questions
What is the median household income in Newton?
$56,172 (±$18,969) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Newton?
25.4%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Newton?
41 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Newton work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jasper (13%, 15 mi), Beaumont (10%, 58 mi), Houston (5%, 122 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Newton walkable?
Newton is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Newton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Newton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Newton
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.