Photo: Jouaienttoi · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in San Antonio (6.2%) than in 76% of U.S. towns
About two in three stay in San Antonio for work; outside it, Austin is the main destination (4%, 74 miles). San Antonio grades C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 7.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 10.1 in Houston.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets San Antonio apart on work
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in San Antonio
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, San Antonio is better than 41% of U.S. towns, #344 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds San Antonio’s grade up (ahead of 94% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, San Antonio stays C+.
How many people are in San Antonio by day
On a workday 196,267 residents head out to work, 398,768 work right here, and 372,313 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,724,000 people are in San Antonio on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.30 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.
Where San Antonio goes to work
Where San Antonio clocks in
4% of workers
3% 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 771,081 jobs based in San Antonio
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in San Antonio, 2013 → 2023: 629,210 → 771,081. 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 San Antonio’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From San Antonio, about 25 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of San Antonio workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 611,087 commuters (the 14% 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 far San Antonio goes to work
About 19% 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.
San Antonio is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, San Antonio is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #20 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place San Antonio 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 706,519 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 79% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 32% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 90% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.7% of San Antonio households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of San Antonio’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Work in the towns next to San Antonio
The biggest share goes to Live Oak (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | San Antonio workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Antonio | – | C+ | A | 25 min | $65,056 |
| Timberwood Park | under 1% | A | C− | 31 min | $157,100 |
| Kirby | under 1% | C+ | A | 24 min | $55,532 |
| Helotes | under 1% | A | B+ | 26 min | $132,675 |
| Live Oak | 1% | B+ | B | 21 min | $79,696 |
| Cross Mountain | under 1% | A+ | B | 27 min | $205,164 |
| Windcrest | under 1% | B+ | B+ | 20 min | $89,844 |
| Schertz | 1% | A− | C | 32 min | $99,948 |
| Converse | under 1% | A− | B− | 27 min | $94,222 |
| Fair Oaks Ranch | under 1% | A | D | 38 min | $174,327 |
| Selma | under 1% | A− | C | 30 min | $97,066 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of San Antonio’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 San Antonio: questions
What is the median household income in San Antonio?
$65,056 (±$776) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in San Antonio?
17.1%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from San Antonio?
25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in San Antonio work?
67% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Austin (4%, 74 mi), Houston (3%, 190 mi), Leon Valley (2%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is San Antonio walkable?
San Antonio is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around San Antonio without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 32% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from San Antonio, from the people who make the trip.
More of San Antonio
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.