Photo: Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas · CC BY 2.0Fewer people are out of work in Palacios (1.3%) than in 92% of U.S. towns
At home: 0% of workers have no commute at all (Texas 14%). Palacios grades C for jobs and income and A for walkability. Measured by household income, Palacios is behind 84% 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 Palacios
Palacios’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Palacios is Houston, 90 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (253) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
52% 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 ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Palacios than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Palacios fell from 735 in 2013 to 467 in 2023, −36%. 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 ↓
Few Palacios workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Palacios
56% of Palacios residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 34% of the jobs based in Palacios pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 89% leave town for their job. 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.
Palacios’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Palacios is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #461 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Palacios’ grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Palacios could be anywhere from D to B.
Where in the region Palacios works
About 52% 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.
What Palacios’ employers do
467 jobs are based in Palacios.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Palacios, 2013 → 2023: 735 → 467. 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 Palacios’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Palacios: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palacios workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,808 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.
Who leaves Palacios for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,526 residents head out to work, 186 work right here, and 281 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Palacios on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.27 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.
15% of working residents work in Houston
Where Palacios clocks in
15% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Palacios
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Palacios is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #26 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Palacios 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 1,808 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). 8.5% of Palacios households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Palacios’ commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Palacios is 2,982nd among 3,908 U.S. towns of 3,100 to 5,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 6 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,980 | West Township OH | 3,100 | $75K | 13.4% | 10.6% | 2% | C |
| 2,981 | Keyes CA | 5,577 | $65K | 23.5% | 7.0% | 3% | C |
| 2,982 | Palacios TX | 4,370 | $53K | 19.2% | 1.3% | 11% | C |
| 2,983 | Green Township MI | 3,408 | $83K | 20.1% | 5.0% | 3% | C |
| 2,984 | Cornville AZ | 3,618 | $73K | 6.7% | 8.0% | 4% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,908 | 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 Palacios, 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 Palacios: questions
What is the median household income in Palacios?
$52,620 (±$17,168) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palacios?
19.2%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palacios?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Palacios work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (15%, 90 mi), Bay City (5%, 25 mi), Point Comfort (4%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Palacios walkable?
Palacios is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palacios without a car?
7% 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 Palacios, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palacios
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.