T. H. Mathis House · Photo: Homer Lansberry · Public domainAt 6.1%, unemployment in Rockport is higher than in 75% of U.S. towns
For 27% of workers, the job is at home, where Texas as a whole has 14%. The two grades for Rockport are C for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in four work in Rockport itself; outside it, Corpus Christi draws the most (15%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Rockport in brief
Rockport trades workers with the towns around it
Rockport has about as many jobs (3,967) as working residents (3,710), but they are mostly different people: 2,744 residents leave for work each day while 3,001 people come in. Only 24% of the jobs in Rockport are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Rockport
27% of Rockport workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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 Rockport 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Jobs & income in Rockport: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rockport is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #405 of 642 in Texas. Household income holds Rockport’s grade up ($72,174, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rockport could be anywhere from D to B+.
Who commutes out of Rockport, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,744 residents head out to work, 966 work right here, and 3,001 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 (1.07 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.
From Rockport, about 22 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rockport workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,355 commuters (the 27% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Rockport
About 36% 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.
Where Rockport’s working residents head each day
Where Rockport clocks in
15% 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 Rockport’s employers do
3,967 jobs are based in Rockport.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rockport, 2013 → 2023: 3,969 → 3,967. 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 Rockport’s own residents hold wherever they work.
For most of Rockport, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rockport is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns, #238 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% 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 4,574 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). 7.2% of Rockport households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rockport’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000, Rockport comes 1,890th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Lucas TX | 8,896 | $221K | 1.3% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Lantana TX | 12,766 | $199K | 0.6% | 2.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,888 | Los Fresnos TX | 8,703 | $62K | 34.7% | 3.6% | 14% | C |
| 1,889 | Waterford CA | 9,258 | $74K | 13.9% | 7.9% | 4% | C |
| 1,890 | Rockport TX | 11,348 | $72K | 11.9% | 6.1% | 26% | C |
| 1,891 | Guymon OK | 12,241 | $60K | 13.2% | 3.2% | 64% | C |
| 1,892 | Citrus Springs FL | 12,215 | $68K | 11.6% | 4.2% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Rockport, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Rockport and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Fulton (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Rockport’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 Rockport: questions
What is the median household income in Rockport?
$72,174 (±$15,478) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rockport?
11.9%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rockport?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rockport work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Corpus Christi (15%, 22 mi), Houston (5%, 157 mi), San Antonio (4%, 132 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rockport walkable?
Rockport is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rockport without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rockport, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rockport
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.