Anderson House and Store · Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Salado top those of 82% of U.S. towns
23% of workers have no commute at all (Texas 14%). 4.3% of residents are in poverty, against 13.8% across Texas. Salado grades A for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Salado apart
The better-paid jobs are outside Salado
66% of Salado residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 35% of the jobs based in Salado pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Salado has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Salado went from 534 in 2013 to 828 in 2023, +55%. The jobs ↓
Salado and Temple trade workers both ways
Temple is the top workplace for Salado residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Salado come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Many jobs in Salado pay little
31% of the jobs based in Salado pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 32% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Salado
23% of Salado workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Salado
On income, poverty and job access, Salado is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #100 of 642 in Texas. The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 63% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (2.0%) is left out: Salado’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, Salado could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Inside Salado’s 828 jobs
828 jobs are based in Salado.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Salado, 2013 → 2023: 534 → 828. 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 Salado’s own residents hold wherever they work.
21% of working residents work in Temple
Where Salado clocks in
9% of workers
6% 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.
Time on the road from Salado: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Salado workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 716 commuters (the 23% 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 many people are in Salado by day
On a workday 960 residents head out to work, 45 work right here, and 783 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 (0.82 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Salado
About 25% 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.
Most trips from Salado start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Salado is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns, #495 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Salado 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 931 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). 1.7% of Salado households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Salado’s commuters take a bus or train.
Salado places 443rd of 5,083 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Southside Place TX | 1,916 | $163K | 5.0% | 5.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 441 | Wheeler AFB HI | 2,097 | $92K | 1.3% | 4.9% | 2% | A |
| 442 | Center Point IA | 2,572 | $95K | 5.1% | 1.0% | 7% | A |
| 443 | Salado TX | 2,565 | $108K | 4.3% | 2.0% | 4% | A |
| 444 | Ellington Township IL | 2,719 | $106K | 5.4% | 0.2% | 11% | A |
| 445 | Oregon Township IN | 1,881 | $91K | 1.0% | 1.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Salado, 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 Salado: questions
What is the median household income in Salado?
$107,679 (±$25,446) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Salado?
4.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Salado?
25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Salado work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Temple (21%, 14 mi), Belton (9%, 8 mi), Austin (6%, 47 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Salado walkable?
Salado is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Salado without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Salado, from the people who make the trip.
More of Salado
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.