Photo: Lothar1976 · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Roby works elsewhere
4% of workers have no commute at all, against 14% across Texas. Employers in Roby report 125 jobs, and 251 of its residents work somewhere. Only 7% work in Roby; the top destination outside it is Sweetwater (18%, 19 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Roby: the gist
A big share show a job far from home
39% 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 ↓
Commutes from Roby are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 69 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 251 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Half of Roby commutes less than 37 miles
About 39% 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.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Texas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Roby workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 300 commuters (the 4% 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.
Roby by day and by night
On a workday 233 residents head out to work, 18 work right here, and 107 people come in from elsewhere.
About 460 people are in Roby on a workday afternoon, 21% 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.
The places Roby commutes to
Where Roby clocks in
10% 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.
Jobs in Roby: what the 125 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Roby, 2013 → 2023: 123 → 125. 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 Roby’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Roby: questions
What is the median household income in Roby?
$59,758 (±$7,161) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Roby?
19.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Roby?
18 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Roby work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sweetwater (18%, 19 mi), Abilene (10%, 42 mi), Rotan (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Roby without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Roby, from the people who make the trip.
More of Roby
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.