Households in Palm Valley have higher incomes than those in 76% of U.S. towns
The trip to work takes 28 minutes on average, where Texas has 27 and the U.S. 26. Poverty touches 2.6% of residents, next to 13.8% for Texas as a whole. Palm Valley grades A− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Palm Valley in brief
Palm Valley and Harlingen trade workers both ways
Harlingen is the top workplace for Palm Valley residents (39%) and also where the most people who work in Palm Valley come from (24% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Many jobs in Palm Valley pay little
46% of the jobs based in Palm Valley pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Palm Valley
54% of Palm Valley residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 21% of the jobs based in Palm Valley pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 98% 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; with 504 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Palm Valley earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Palm Valley is better than 84% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input; unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Palm Valley could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
39% of working residents work in Harlingen
Where Palm Valley clocks in
39% of workers
9% of workers
4% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Palm Valley
351 jobs are based in Palm Valley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Palm Valley, 2013 → 2023: 262 → 351. 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 Palm Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Palm Valley, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 496 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 343 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Palm Valley on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.70 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.
Getting to work from Palm Valley takes about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palm Valley workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 856 commuters (the 13% 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.
Where in the region Palm Valley works
About 26% 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.
Most trips from Palm Valley start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Palm Valley is more walkable than 36% 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 988 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). 1.2% of Palm Valley households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Palm Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Palm Valley ranks: 394th of 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Seis Lagos TX | 1,391 | $249K | 1.2% | 4.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Rollingwood TX | 1,466 | $240K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| 30 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 392 | Nekimi WI | 1,335 | $97K | 5.0% | 3.3% | 1% | A− |
| 393 | Thompson ND | 1,100 | $118K | 1.5% | 0.6% | 2% | A− |
| 394 | Palm Valley TX | 1,340 | $99K | 2.6% | 4.2% | 2% | A− |
| 395 | Cannon City Township MN | 1,273 | $102K | 3.4% | 0.8% | 1% | A− |
| 396 | Eagle Township OH | 1,084 | $99K | 1.3% | 0.0% | <1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Palm Valley, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
39% of Palm Valley works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Palm Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Valley | – | A− | C+ | 28 min | $99,438 |
| Harlingen | 39% | C | B | 18 min | $53,645 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Harlingen. Darker towns draw more of Palm Valley’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 Palm Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Palm Valley?
$99,438 (±$7,815) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palm Valley?
2.6%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palm Valley?
28 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Palm Valley work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harlingen (39%, 4 mi), Brownsville (9%, 23 mi), Houston (4%, 286 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Palm Valley walkable?
Palm Valley is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palm Valley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Palm Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palm Valley
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.