Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0At 1.7%, unemployment in Sonora is lower than in 88% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Sonora; the top destination outside it is San Angelo (12%, 61 miles). The two grades for Sonora are B for jobs and income and B− for walkability. 5% of workers have no commute at all, against 14% across Texas.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Sonora, in brief
Fewer jobs are based in Sonora than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Sonora fell from 1,624 in 2013 to 685 in 2023, −58%. 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
55% 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 ↓
Sonora’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Sonora is San Angelo, 61 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (124) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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.
Jobs & income in Sonora: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sonora is better than 56% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Sonora’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 3% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sonora could be anywhere from C− to A−.
32% of the jobs in Sonora make or build things
685 jobs are based in Sonora.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sonora, 2013 → 2023: 1,624 → 685. 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 Sonora’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Sonora
About 55% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Sonora
On a workday 737 residents head out to work, 295 work right here, and 390 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Sonora on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.66 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where Sonora’s working residents head each day
Where Sonora clocks in
3% 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.
About 28 minutes to work from Sonora
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sonora workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,096 commuters (the 5% 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.
In Sonora, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sonora is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.0% across Texas, on an EPA index of 5.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,153 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). 3.3% of Sonora households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sonora’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,995 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,200, Sonora comes 1,914th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Southside Place TX | 1,916 | $163K | 5.0% | 5.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Bartonville TX | 1,937 | $149K | 4.3% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,912 | Oakboro NC | 2,316 | $69K | 5.5% | 4.0% | 5% | B |
| 1,913 | Three Way TN | 1,933 | $88K | 6.4% | 7.0% | 1% | B |
| 1,914 | Sonora TX | 2,373 | $72K | 5.4% | 1.7% | 29% | B |
| 1,915 | Brothersvalley Township PA | 2,319 | $70K | 8.5% | 0.7% | 6% | B |
| 1,916 | Desert View Highlands CA | 2,613 | $76K | 0.9% | 10.6% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,995 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Sonora, 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 Sonora: questions
What is the median household income in Sonora?
$71,848 (±$22,108) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sonora?
5.4%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sonora?
28 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sonora work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Angelo (12%, 61 mi), Midland (3%, 133 mi), Eldorado (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sonora walkable?
Sonora is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sonora without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sonora, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sonora
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.