Photo: Jay Phagan from Taft, Texas · CC BY 2.0More people are out of work in Taft (9.1%) than in 92% of U.S. towns
For 0% of workers, the job is at home (Texas 14%). Taft grades C− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in ten work in Taft itself; outside it, Corpus Christi draws the most (29%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Taft apart
Taft and Corpus Christi trade workers both ways
Corpus Christi is the top workplace for Taft residents (29%) and also where the most people who work in Taft come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Taft workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
Taft’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Taft is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #479 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Taft’s grade up (ahead of 60% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Taft could be anywhere from D to B+.
Where Taft’s working residents head each day
Where Taft clocks in
29% 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 27 minutes each way for Taft’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Taft workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 965 commuters (the 0% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Taft
On a workday 1,038 residents head out to work, 119 work right here, and 537 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,400 people are in Taft on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.57 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.
Jobs in Taft: what the 656 are
656 jobs are based in Taft.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Taft, 2013 → 2023: 689 → 656. 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 Taft’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Taft
About 25% 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.
For most of Taft, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Taft is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns, #419 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% 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 965 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.3% of Taft households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Taft’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Taft ranks: 3,475th of 4,618 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,473 | Byesville OH | 2,359 | $43K | 21.1% | 3.1% | 5% | C− |
| 3,474 | Drumright OK | 2,546 | $46K | 24.7% | 2.4% | 16% | C− |
| 3,475 | Taft TX | 2,939 | $73K | 21.3% | 9.1% | 10% | C− |
| 3,476 | Bertram TX | 2,142 | $63K | 19.7% | 2.7% | 2% | C− |
| 3,477 | New Lisbon WI | 2,577 | $71K | 16.4% | 7.5% | 14% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Taft, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
The towns around Taft
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Taft workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taft | – | C− | C+ | 27 min | $73,032 |
| Taft Southwest | under 2% | C+ | C− | 28 min | $55,938 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Taft’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 Taft: questions
What is the median household income in Taft?
$73,032 (±$22,212) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Taft?
21.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Taft?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Taft work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Corpus Christi (29%, 21 mi), Ingleside (7%, 14 mi), Portland (7%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Taft walkable?
Taft is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Taft without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Taft, from the people who make the trip.
More of Taft
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.