Riesel has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs and income earn Riesel B+; getting around on foot earns it D. 170 jobs are based in Riesel for 486 working residents. Measured by household income, Riesel is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Riesel apart
One in three of Riesel works in Waco
168 working residents, 35%, have their main job in Waco, 16 miles away. That’s 7 times as many as work in Riesel itself. The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% 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; with 486 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Riesel’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Riesel is better than 68% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Riesel’s grade up ($98,063, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 42% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Riesel’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, Riesel could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
35% of working residents work in Waco
Where Riesel 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.
The distance from Riesel to work
About 30% 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.
Who leaves Riesel for work, and who comes in
On a workday 460 residents head out to work, 26 work right here, and 144 people come in from elsewhere.
About 750 people are in Riesel on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Jobs in Riesel: what the 170 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Riesel, 2013 → 2023: 191 → 170. 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 Riesel’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Riesel: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Riesel workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 729 commuters (the 8% 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.
For most of Riesel, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Riesel is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Riesel 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 789 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). 1.0% of Riesel households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Riesel’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Riesel is 544th of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Seis Lagos TX | 1,391 | $249K | 1.2% | 4.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Weston TX | 1,140 | $144K | 2.8% | 0.7% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Randolph AFB TX | 1,240 | $113K | 2.8% | 3.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 542 | Mill Creek Township OH | 1,050 | $121K | 5.8% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 543 | West Leechburg PA | 1,232 | $77K | 4.1% | 4.9% | <1% | B+ |
| 544 | Riesel TX | 1,061 | $98K | 6.8% | 0.0% | 5% | B+ |
| 545 | Norwich Township OH | 1,023 | $106K | 5.7% | 4.3% | 1% | B+ |
| 546 | Walker Township PA | 1,017 | $89K | 3.3% | 2.3% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Riesel, 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 Riesel: questions
What is the median household income in Riesel?
$98,063 (±$24,104) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Riesel?
6.8%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Riesel?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Riesel work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waco (35%, 16 mi), Austin (5%, 94 mi), Temple (3%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Riesel walkable?
Riesel is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Riesel without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Riesel, from the people who make the trip.
More of Riesel
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.