Silsbee has higher unemployment (7.3%) than 84% of U.S. towns
4% of workers have no commute at all (Texas 14%). Jobs and income earn Silsbee C−; getting around on foot earns it C. About one in seven stay in Silsbee for work; outside it, Beaumont is the main destination (20%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Silsbee and work: the main findings
Silsbee trades workers with the towns around it
Silsbee has about as many jobs (2,669) as working residents (2,746), but they are mostly different people: 2,281 residents leave for work each day while 2,204 people come in. Only 17% of the jobs in Silsbee are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Silsbee than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Silsbee fell from 4,095 in 2013 to 2,669 in 2023, −35%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Silsbee workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Silsbee workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Silsbee
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Silsbee is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #541 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Silsbee’s grade up (ahead of 49% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (20.0%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Silsbee could be anywhere from D to B.
Silsbee on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,281 residents head out to work, 465 work right here, and 2,204 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 (0.97 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.
The kinds of work in Silsbee
2,669 jobs are based in Silsbee.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Silsbee, 2013 → 2023: 4,095 → 2,669. 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 Silsbee’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 33 minutes each way for Silsbee’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Silsbee workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,317 commuters (the 4% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Silsbee
About 34% 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.
Where the trip to work from Silsbee ends
Where Silsbee clocks in
20% of workers
9% of workers
4% 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.
Silsbee is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Silsbee is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns, #478 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 2,419 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). 4.4% of Silsbee households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Silsbee’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,283 U.S. towns of 4,600 to 8,900, Silsbee comes 2,840th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| 4 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,838 | Clinton IN | 4,771 | $43K | 21.4% | 4.2% | 11% | C− |
| 2,839 | Princeton KY | 6,168 | $47K | 15.8% | 4.5% | 40% | C− |
| 2,840 | Silsbee TX | 6,613 | $60K | 20.0% | 7.3% | 17% | C− |
| 2,841 | Oak Hill WV | 7,629 | $52K | 21.7% | 4.6% | 12% | C− |
| 2,842 | Payette ID | 8,813 | $55K | 13.9% | 5.2% | 14% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,283 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Silsbee, 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 Silsbee: questions
What is the median household income in Silsbee?
$59,907 (±$11,093) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Silsbee?
20.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Silsbee?
33 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Silsbee work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Beaumont (20%, 18 mi), Houston (9%, 82 mi), Lumberton (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Silsbee walkable?
Silsbee is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Silsbee without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Silsbee, from the people who make the trip.
More of Silsbee
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.