Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Perryton (0.3%) than in 98% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers, where Texas as a whole has 14%. Perryton grades B− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About two in five work in Perryton itself; outside it, Shamrock draws the most (9%, 87 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Perryton and work: the main findings
Most jobs in Perryton go to people who live here
Of the 2,456 jobs based in Perryton, 55% are held by Perryton residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Perryton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Perryton is Shamrock, 87 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (326) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Perryton than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Perryton fell from 4,347 in 2013 to 2,456 in 2023, −44%. 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 ↓
Commutes from Perryton are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Perryton workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Jobs & income in Perryton: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Perryton is better than 46% of U.S. towns, #317 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Perryton’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 11% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Perryton could be anywhere from C to B.
The daily flow of workers through Perryton
On a workday 2,183 residents head out to work, 1,362 work right here, and 1,094 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,800 people are in Perryton on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.69 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.
The commute from Perryton, by distance
About 36% 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.
Perryton works in goods: 37% of its jobs
2,456 jobs are based in Perryton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Perryton, 2013 → 2023: 4,347 → 2,456. 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 Perryton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Perryton, about 20 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Perryton workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,144 commuters (the 3% 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 Perryton goes to work
Where Perryton clocks in
9% 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.
Most trips from Perryton start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Perryton is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns, #358 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% 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 4,288 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). 6.0% of Perryton households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Perryton’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Perryton ranks: 1,868th of 3,026 U.S. towns of 5,500 to 10,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Oak Point TX | 6,909 | $126K | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,866 | Richland MS | 7,630 | $67K | 12.7% | 5.1% | 10% | B− |
| 1,867 | Oberlin OH | 8,603 | $81K | 16.1% | 5.6% | 26% | B− |
| 1,868 | Perryton TX | 7,850 | $70K | 12.4% | 0.3% | 38% | B− |
| 1,869 | Thompson CT | 9,566 | $94K | 5.9% | 7.9% | 10% | B− |
| 1,870 | Smiths Station AL | 5,596 | $65K | 14.1% | 2.0% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,026 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Perryton, 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 Perryton: questions
What is the median household income in Perryton?
$69,514 (±$10,918) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Perryton?
12.4%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Perryton?
20 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Perryton work?
38% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Shamrock (9%, 87 mi), Amarillo (5%, 101 mi), Booker (4%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Perryton walkable?
Perryton is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Perryton without a car?
<1% 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 Perryton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Perryton
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.