Earning a living in Santa Maria
Santa Maria has 170 jobs for 188 working residents. Only 5% work in Santa Maria; the top destination outside it is Harlingen (19%, 12 miles). 10% of workers have no commute at all, against 14% across Texas.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves Santa Maria for work, and who comes in
On a workday 179 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 161 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where Santa Maria’s working residents head each day
Where Santa Maria clocks in
19% of workers
7% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Santa Maria
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Santa Maria, 2014 → 2024: 149 → 170. 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 Santa Maria’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Santa Maria
of Santa Maria workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 198 commuters (the 10% 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 distance from Santa Maria to work
About 29% 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.
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 Santa Maria: questions
What is the poverty rate in Santa Maria?
37.2%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Santa Maria work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harlingen (19%, 12 mi), Weslaco (7%, 10 mi), Brownsville (7%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Santa Maria without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Santa Maria, from the people who make the trip.
More of Santa Maria
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.