Refugio County Courthouse · Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0At 1.0%, unemployment in Refugio is lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Refugio are C for jobs and income and A for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 89% of U.S. towns. 2% of workers work from home; Texas has 14%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Refugio, in a few figures
Refugio’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Refugio is Corpus Christi, 39 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (118) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Refugio trades workers with the towns around it
Refugio has about as many jobs (1,130) as working residents (1,099), but they are mostly different people: 781 residents leave for work each day while 812 people come in. Only 28% of the jobs in Refugio are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Few Refugio workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Refugio are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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.
Inside Refugio’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Refugio is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #467 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Refugio’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (25.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Refugio could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The commute from Refugio, by distance
About 33% 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.
In and out of Refugio on a workday
On a workday 781 residents head out to work, 318 work right here, and 812 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 (1.03 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.
Each way, about 22 minutes from Refugio
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Refugio workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,060 commuters (the 2% 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.
11% of working residents work in Corpus Christi
Where Refugio clocks in
11% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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 work there is in Refugio: 1,130 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Refugio, 2013 → 2023: 1,494 → 1,130. 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 Refugio’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Refugio, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Refugio is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #19 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Refugio near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,083 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). 21.8% of Refugio households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Refugio’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Refugio is 3,583rd among 4,969 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Southside Place TX | 1,916 | $163K | 5.0% | 5.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,581 | Chesaning MI | 2,399 | $60K | 13.9% | 4.9% | 23% | C |
| 3,582 | Woodbury TN | 2,828 | $58K | 21.0% | 4.0% | 11% | C |
| 3,583 | Refugio TX | 2,752 | $49K | 25.3% | 1.0% | 29% | C |
| 3,584 | Springfield Township OH | 3,406 | $62K | 16.4% | 3.1% | 6% | C |
| 3,585 | North York PA | 2,248 | $64K | 21.2% | 13.6% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Refugio, 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 Refugio: questions
What is the median household income in Refugio?
$48,750 (±$26,566) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Refugio?
25.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Refugio?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Refugio work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Corpus Christi (11%, 39 mi), San Antonio (5%, 110 mi), Victoria (4%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Refugio walkable?
Refugio is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.6 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Refugio without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Refugio, from the people who make the trip.
More of Refugio
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.