Household incomes in Rio Hondo are lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
Rio Hondo grades D for jobs and income and B− for walkability. 26.3% of residents live below the poverty line (Texas 13.8%). About one in ten stay in Rio Hondo for work; outside it, Harlingen is the main destination (27%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Rio Hondo: the gist
Rio Hondo and Harlingen trade workers both ways
Harlingen is the top workplace for Rio Hondo residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Rio Hondo come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer than half of Rio Hondo workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Rio Hondo’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 17% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Rio Hondo 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 ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 662 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Rio Hondo
On income, poverty and job access, Rio Hondo is better than 13% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Rio Hondo’s grade up (ahead of 60% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($35,682, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (1.5%) is left out: Rio Hondo’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Rio Hondo could be anywhere from D to C.
Where people from Rio Hondo work
Where Rio Hondo clocks in
27% of workers
11% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Rio Hondo
767 jobs are based in Rio Hondo.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rio Hondo, 2014 → 2024: 683 → 767. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rio Hondo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Rio Hondo, about 22 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rio Hondo workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 599 commuters (the 9% 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.
How a workday changes Rio Hondo
On a workday 602 residents head out to work, 60 work right here, and 707 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 (1.16 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The commute from Rio Hondo, by distance
About 20% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of Rio Hondo commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rio Hondo is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.0% across Texas, on an EPA index of 5.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 661 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). 19.1% of Rio Hondo households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rio Hondo’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Rio Hondo is 4,388th of 5,328 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Southside Place TX | 1,916 | $163K | 5.0% | 5.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Bartonville TX | 1,937 | $149K | 4.3% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,386 | Lakeside OR | 1,863 | $65K | 14.1% | 0.6% | 8% | D |
| 4,387 | Tunkhannock PA | 1,718 | $58K | 21.6% | 5.5% | 8% | D |
| 4,388 | Rio Hondo TX | 2,332 | $36K | 26.3% | 1.5% | 9% | D |
| 4,389 | Hiram ME | 1,712 | $63K | 12.6% | 4.4% | 5% | D |
| 4,390 | Belvidere Township MI | 2,224 | $60K | 13.3% | 5.1% | 1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Rio Hondo, 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 2024, 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 Rio Hondo: questions
What is the median household income in Rio Hondo?
$35,682 (±$20,983) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rio Hondo?
26.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rio Hondo?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rio Hondo work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harlingen (27%, 8 mi), Brownsville (11%, 18 mi), San Benito (8%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Rio Hondo walkable?
Rio Hondo is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rio Hondo without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 19% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rio Hondo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rio Hondo
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.