Photo: TourismPTX · CC BY-SA 4.0Palestine’s household incomes are lower than in 93% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 17.6% of residents, against 13.8% across Texas. Jobs and income earn Palestine D; getting around on foot earns it B+. 5% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Palestine at work: what stands out
A big share show a job far from home
43% 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 ↓
Palestine draws workers from far and wide
The 8,916 jobs in Palestine are filled from a wide area. Palestine’s own residents hold 26% and the ten next-biggest home towns 9%; the other 65% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Palestine 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 ↓
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 Palestine earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Palestine is better than 10% of U.S. towns, #593 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Palestine’s grade up (ahead of 34% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($44,981, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Palestine could be anywhere from D to C−.
Where in the region Palestine works
About 43% 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.
6% of working residents work in Tyler
Where Palestine clocks in
6% of workers
3% 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.
About 21 minutes each way for Palestine’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palestine workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,960 commuters (the 5% 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.
In and out of Palestine on a workday
On a workday 4,514 residents head out to work, 2,275 work right here, and 6,641 people come in from elsewhere.
About 22,000 people are in Palestine on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.31 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.
The kinds of work in Palestine
8,916 jobs are based in Palestine.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Palestine, 2013 → 2023: 9,096 → 8,916. 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 Palestine’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most of Palestine commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Palestine is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #127 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Palestine 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 8,417 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). 9.2% of Palestine households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Palestine’s commuters take a bus or train.
Palestine next to U.S. towns of 14,000 to 26,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Colleyville TX | 25,727 | $218K | 2.5% | 3.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Corinth TX | 25,297 | $121K | 3.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Bellaire TX | 17,434 | $244K | 2.4% | 3.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,713 | Corcoran CA | 22,358 | $60K | 20.7% | 11.1% | 19% | D |
| 1,714 | Yucca Valley CA | 21,887 | $60K | 15.7% | 6.6% | 15% | D |
| 1,715 | Palestine TX | 19,555 | $45K | 17.6% | 7.0% | 34% | D |
| 1,716 | Grass Valley CA | 14,035 | $52K | 22.1% | 7.4% | 28% | D |
| 1,717 | Vicksburg MS | 19,830 | $46K | 26.8% | 5.9% | 42% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,760 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Palestine, 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 Palestine: questions
What is the median household income in Palestine?
$44,981 (±$8,687) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palestine?
17.6%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palestine?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Palestine work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tyler (6%, 44 mi), Dallas (4%, 97 mi), Houston (3%, 137 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Palestine walkable?
Palestine is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palestine without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Palestine, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palestine
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.