At 21.0%, unemployment in San Carlos is among the highest of any U.S. town
Working from home is the commute for 22% of workers, against 14% across Texas. Jobs and income earn San Carlos D; getting around on foot earns it D. Household incomes here are lower than in 89% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set San Carlos apart
San Carlos is a place people come home to
There are 177 jobs based in San Carlos, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
San Carlos and Edinburg trade workers both ways
Edinburg is the top workplace for San Carlos residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in San Carlos come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from San Carlos are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 54 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 894 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside San Carlos’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, San Carlos is better than 14% of U.S. towns, #560 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds San Carlos’ grade up (ahead of 74% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, San Carlos could be anywhere from D to B+.
Who commutes out of San Carlos, and who commutes in
On a workday 886 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 169 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,000 people are in San Carlos on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.20 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
23% of working residents work in Edinburg
Where San Carlos clocks in
23% of workers
17% of workers
7% 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 trip to work from San Carlos: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of San Carlos workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 862 commuters (the 22% 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.
What work there is in San Carlos: 177 jobs
177 jobs are based in San Carlos.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in San Carlos, 2014 → 2024: 107 → 177. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs San Carlos’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from San Carlos
About 23% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In San Carlos, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, San Carlos is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns, #610 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place San Carlos 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 1,111 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). 6.7% of San Carlos households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of San Carlos’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000, San Carlos ranks 3,770th of 4,318 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,768 | Bethel ME | 2,751 | $59K | 13.9% | 5.2% | 31% | D |
| 3,769 | Parksdale CA | 2,885 | $52K | 21.0% | 18.1% | 3% | D |
| 3,770 | San Carlos TX | 3,678 | $49K | 23.1% | 21.0% | 1% | D |
| 3,771 | Yadkinville NC | 3,055 | $53K | 21.4% | 6.5% | 13% | D |
| 3,772 | Winner SD | 2,969 | $47K | 28.2% | 2.8% | 50% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Carlos, 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 2024, 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 Carlos: questions
What is the median household income in San Carlos?
$49,132 (±$20,827) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in San Carlos?
23.1%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from San Carlos?
20 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in San Carlos work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Edinburg (23%, 6 mi), McAllen (17%, 12 mi), Pharr (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is San Carlos walkable?
San Carlos is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around San Carlos 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 San Carlos, from the people who make the trip.
More of San Carlos
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.