Temple Commercial Historic District · Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0More people are out of work in Temple (6.6%) than in 79% of U.S. towns
About two in five stay in Temple for work; outside it, Austin is the main destination (7%, 60 miles). Temple grades C for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Working residents average 21 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Temple, in brief
Temple is where the jobs are
Temple has 53,926 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Temple are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
The biggest group of Temple’s workers comes from Killeen
4,797 of the people who work in Temple live in Killeen, 20 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
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 Temple
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Temple is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #402 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Temple’s grade up (ahead of 70% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Temple could be anywhere from C to C+.
The daily commute in and out of Temple
On a workday 20,428 residents head out to work, 15,249 work right here, and 38,677 people come in from elsewhere.
About 117,000 people are in Temple on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
The daily trip from Temple: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Temple workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 35,292 commuters (the 11% 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.
Where Temple’s workforce comes from
Where Temple clocks in
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.
The kinds of work in Temple
53,926 jobs are based in Temple.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Temple, 2013 → 2023: 46,253 → 53,926. 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 Temple’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Temple to work
About 30% 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.
Temple is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Temple is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns, #302 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 39,855 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 Temple households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Temple’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Temple is 365th among 439 U.S. towns of 69,000 to 133,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | Bethesda MD | 69,397 | $192K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Flower Mound TX | 79,540 | $161K | 4.3% | 3.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Allen TX | 113,447 | $131K | 6.1% | 3.7% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 363 | Lehigh Acres FL | 132,353 | $67K | 17.1% | 4.5% | 9% | C |
| 364 | Warren Township IN | 107,778 | $59K | 17.2% | 6.9% | 14% | C |
| 365 | Temple TX | 98,412 | $68K | 16.0% | 6.6% | 43% | C |
| 366 | St. Joseph MO | 71,001 | $58K | 17.7% | 4.3% | 68% | C |
| 367 | Hammond IN | 75,712 | $56K | 19.1% | 6.5% | 18% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 439 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Temple, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Temple and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Temple workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temple | – | C | B− | 21 min | $68,204 |
| Belton | 7% | B− | A− | 23 min | $59,130 |
| Morgan's Point Resort | under 2% | A− | C− | 29 min | $79,450 |
| Pendleton | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Pendleton: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Belton. Darker towns draw more of Temple’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 Temple: questions
What is the median household income in Temple?
$68,204 (±$2,488) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Temple?
16.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Temple?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Temple work?
43% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Austin (7%, 60 mi), Belton (7%, 6 mi), Waco (4%, 33 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Temple walkable?
Temple is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Temple without a car?
<1% 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 Temple, from the people who make the trip.
More of Temple
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.