Jobs and the daily commute in Plains
0% of workers have no commute at all, next to 14% for Texas as a whole. For jobs and income Plains is better than 19% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (C−). About one in four stay in Plains for work; outside it, Lubbock is the main destination (10%, 60 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Plains
Plains’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Plains is Lubbock, 60 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (40) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
49% 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 ↓
Few Plains 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 ↓
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 392 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Plains gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Household income holds Plains’ grade up ($76,985, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 6% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (9.9%) is left out: Plains’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Plains could be anywhere from D to B−.
Plains’ commute, mile by mile
About 49% 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.
About 29 minutes each way for Plains’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Plains workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 539 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.
In and out of Plains on a workday
On a workday 293 residents head out to work, 99 work right here, and 350 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.15 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.
Where people from Plains work
Where Plains clocks in
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.
Plains makes things: 33% of its jobs are in goods
449 jobs are based in Plains.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Plains, 2013 → 2023: 341 → 449. 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 Plains’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most of Plains commutes by car
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 539 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). 0.0% of Plains households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Plains’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800, Plains ranks 3,750th of 5,400 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,748 | Madison MN | 1,504 | $61K | 9.9% | 2.6% | 28% | C− |
| 3,749 | Monteagle TN | 1,439 | $63K | 13.0% | 10.2% | 5% | C− |
| 3,750 | Plains TX | 1,323 | $77K | 15.5% | 9.9% | 25% | C− |
| 3,751 | Greenwood WI | 1,079 | $65K | 13.7% | 3.7% | 8% | C− |
| 3,752 | Preston Township PA | 1,013 | $71K | 11.8% | 1.8% | 7% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Plains, 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 Plains: questions
What is the median household income in Plains?
$76,985 (±$9,785) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Plains?
15.5%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Plains?
29 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Plains work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lubbock (10%, 60 mi), Denver City (5%, 15 mi), Dallas (3%, 352 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Plains walkable?
Plains is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Plains without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Plains, from the people who make the trip.
More of Plains
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.