Photo: The original uploader was Billy Hathorn at English Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 3.0At 0.2%, unemployment in Panhandle is lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
Only 7% work in Panhandle; the top destination outside it is Amarillo (31%, 27 miles). Panhandle grades A− for jobs and income and B for walkability. The average commute takes 21 minutes each way (Texas 27, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Panhandle apart on work
Panhandle and Amarillo trade workers both ways
Amarillo is the top workplace for Panhandle residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Panhandle come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Panhandle 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; with 816 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Panhandle gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Panhandle is better than 77% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Panhandle’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 36% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Panhandle could be anywhere from B+ to A.
The places Panhandle commutes to
Where Panhandle clocks in
31% of workers
7% 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.
Commuting from Panhandle: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Panhandle workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,329 commuters (the 9% 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.
How many people are in Panhandle by day
On a workday 757 residents head out to work, 59 work right here, and 277 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Panhandle on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.41 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.
What work there is in Panhandle: 336 jobs
336 jobs are based in Panhandle.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Panhandle, 2013 → 2023: 331 → 336. 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 Panhandle’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Panhandle
About 24% 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.
Few in Panhandle walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Panhandle is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% of 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 1,464 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). 6.5% of Panhandle households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Panhandle’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,328 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100, Panhandle comes 874th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Southside Place TX | 1,916 | $163K | 5.0% | 5.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Bartonville TX | 1,937 | $149K | 4.3% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 872 | Greenwood LA | 3,077 | $64K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 4% | A− |
| 873 | East Washington PA | 1,814 | $91K | 7.9% | 1.7% | 1% | A− |
| 874 | Panhandle TX | 2,288 | $86K | 5.8% | 0.2% | 7% | A− |
| 875 | Athens Township MN | 2,175 | $88K | 8.8% | 2.2% | 1% | A− |
| 876 | Wakefield Township MN | 2,829 | $108K | 4.0% | 4.0% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Panhandle, 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 Panhandle: questions
What is the median household income in Panhandle?
$85,870 (±$5,559) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Panhandle?
5.8%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Panhandle?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Panhandle work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Amarillo (31%, 27 mi), Borger (7%, 22 mi), Lubbock (3%, 127 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Panhandle walkable?
Panhandle is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Panhandle without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Panhandle, from the people who make the trip.
More of Panhandle
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.