Households in San Benito have lower incomes than those in 94% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income San Benito is better than 15% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (B−). Poverty touches 29.7% of residents, next to 13.8% for Texas as a whole. About one in seven work in San Benito; the top destination outside it is Harlingen (28%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets San Benito apart on work
San Benito trades workers with the towns around it
San Benito has about as many jobs (7,866) as working residents (8,694), but they are mostly different people: 7,448 residents leave for work each day while 6,620 people come in. Only 16% of the jobs in San Benito are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of San Benito works one town over
41% of working residents work in a town that borders San Benito: Harlingen (28%) and Brownsville (13%). Next door ↓
Commutes from San Benito 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 ↓
Fewer than half of San Benito workers earn over $40,000 a year
39% of San Benito’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 20% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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.
Why San Benito gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Job access by car holds San Benito’s grade up (ahead of 73% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, San Benito could be anywhere from D to C.
The workday shuffle in and out of San Benito
On a workday 7,448 residents head out to work, 1,246 work right here, and 6,620 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 (0.90 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.
Time on the road from San Benito: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of San Benito workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,050 commuters (the 11% 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.
The 7,866 jobs based in San Benito
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in San Benito, 2013 → 2023: 6,736 → 7,866. 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 Benito’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The places San Benito commutes to
Where San Benito clocks in
28% of workers
13% 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.
Where in the region San Benito works
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Driving is how San Benito gets around
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 9,056 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). 8.9% of San Benito households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of San Benito’s commuters take a bus or train.
San Benito next to U.S. towns of 17,000 to 34,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Colleyville TX | 25,727 | $218K | 2.5% | 3.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Corinth TX | 25,297 | $121K | 3.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,609 | East St. Louis IL | 17,682 | $36K | 32.8% | 17.3% | 9% | C− |
| 1,610 | Lebanon PA | 26,479 | $48K | 22.9% | 10.1% | 12% | C− |
| 1,611 | San Benito TX | 24,980 | $44K | 29.7% | 7.3% | 14% | C− |
| 1,612 | Eureka CA | 25,304 | $58K | 18.1% | 10.3% | 49% | C− |
| 1,613 | Kankakee IL | 23,400 | $48K | 25.5% | 7.6% | 24% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,688 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 San Benito, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
41% of San Benito works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | San Benito workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito | – | C− | B− | 18 min | $43,639 |
| Harlingen | 28% | C | B | 18 min | $53,645 |
| El Camino Angosto | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Brownsville | 13% | C− | B− | 21 min | $52,130 |
| La Paloma | under 2% | C+ | D− | 29 min | $59,840 |
Same-state neighbors only. El Camino Angosto: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Harlingen. Darker towns draw more of San Benito’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 Benito: questions
What is the median household income in San Benito?
$43,639 (±$4,426) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in San Benito?
29.7%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from San Benito?
18 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in San Benito work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harlingen (28%, 5 mi), Brownsville (13%, 14 mi), McAllen (3%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is San Benito walkable?
San Benito is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around San Benito without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from San Benito, from the people who make the trip.
More of San Benito
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.