Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Plainview has lower household incomes than 93% of U.S. towns
For 3% of workers, the job is at home, against 14% across Texas. 24.0% of residents live below the poverty line (Texas 13.8%). Plainview grades D for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Plainview and work: the main findings
Plainview’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Plainview is Lubbock, 45 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (1,463) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Plainview are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Plainview go to people who live here
Of the 8,029 jobs based in Plainview, 45% are held by Plainview residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Few Plainview 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% 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 ↓
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.
Plainview’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Plainview is better than 8% of U.S. towns, #607 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Plainview’s grade up (ahead of 33% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($44,768, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Plainview could be anywhere from D− to C−.
The distance from Plainview to work
About 34% 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.
Plainview’s commute takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Plainview workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,268 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.
The daily commute in and out of Plainview
On a workday 5,355 residents head out to work, 3,604 work right here, and 4,425 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 (0.90 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.
16% of working residents work in Lubbock
Where Plainview clocks in
6% of workers
2% 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.
What the 8,029 jobs in Plainview are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Plainview, 2013 → 2023: 7,906 → 8,029. 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 Plainview’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Plainview is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Plainview is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #190 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% 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 8,513 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). 8.1% of Plainview households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Plainview’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Plainview sits among 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,725 | Eden NC | 15,500 | $47K | 19.2% | 8.3% | 19% | D |
| 1,726 | Center Township IN | 21,606 | $43K | 31.7% | 9.9% | 31% | D |
| 1,727 | Plainview TX | 19,314 | $45K | 24.0% | 6.7% | 40% | D |
| 1,728 | Arvin CA | 19,820 | $49K | 34.6% | 14.0% | 11% | D |
| 1,729 | Coolidge AZ | 19,959 | $67K | 19.9% | 14.1% | 11% | 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 Plainview, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Next door to Plainview
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Plainview’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 Plainview: questions
What is the median household income in Plainview?
$44,768 (±$3,154) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Plainview?
24.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Plainview?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Plainview work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lubbock (16%, 44 mi), Amarillo (6%, 70 mi), Levelland (2%, 56 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Plainview walkable?
Plainview is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Plainview without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Plainview, from the people who make the trip.
More of Plainview
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.