Photo: lfwlfw / Bevo at English Wikipedia · Public domainHousehold incomes put Port Isabel near the very bottom of U.S. towns
About one in ten stay in Port Isabel for work; outside it, South Padre Island is the main destination (27%, 9 miles). Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. The poverty rate is 34.2%, against 13.8% across Texas.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Port Isabel, in brief
Commutes from Port Isabel are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Port Isabel workers earn over $40,000 a year
35% of Port Isabel’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 21% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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.
Port Isabel’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Port Isabel is better than 11% of U.S. towns, #587 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Port Isabel’s grade up (ahead of 44% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($32,222, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Port Isabel could be anywhere from D− to C+.
From Port Isabel, about 14 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Port Isabel workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,189 commuters (the 5% 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.
What the 1,397 jobs in Port Isabel are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Port Isabel, 2013 → 2023: 1,208 → 1,397. 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 Port Isabel’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Port Isabel commutes less than 19 miles
About 35% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Port Isabel
On a workday 1,472 residents head out to work, 187 work right here, and 1,210 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 (0.84 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 Port Isabel’s working residents head each day
Where Port Isabel clocks in
11% 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 of Port Isabel commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Port Isabel is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns, #381 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% 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 2,315 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). 3.6% of Port Isabel households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Port Isabel’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Port Isabel sits among U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 7 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,327 | Hoopeston IL | 4,676 | $61K | 15.6% | 7.6% | 23% | D |
| 3,328 | Waynesboro MS | 4,495 | $32K | 28.2% | 3.8% | 31% | D |
| 3,329 | Port Isabel TX | 5,302 | $32K | 34.2% | 5.2% | 11% | D |
| 3,330 | Albion NY | 5,843 | $42K | 17.9% | 8.2% | 17% | D |
| 3,331 | Goulding FL | 3,734 | $29K | 35.4% | 11.1% | 2% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,651 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Port Isabel, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
11% of Port Isabel works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Port Isabel workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Isabel | – | D | C+ | 14 min | $32,222 |
| Brownsville | 11% | C− | B− | 21 min | $52,130 |
| Laguna Heights | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Laguna Heights: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Brownsville. Darker towns draw more of Port Isabel’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 Port Isabel: questions
What is the median household income in Port Isabel?
$32,222 (±$25,587) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Port Isabel?
34.2%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Port Isabel?
14 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Port Isabel work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are South Padre Island (27%, 9 mi), Brownsville (11%, 12 mi), McAllen (5%, 59 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Port Isabel walkable?
Port Isabel is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Port Isabel without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Port Isabel, from the people who make the trip.
More of Port Isabel
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.