Most of The Colony commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
The Colony grades A for jobs and income and B for walkability. Employers in The Colony report 11,038 jobs; 26,338 of its residents have a job. Measured by household income, The Colony is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: The Colony in brief
Jobs in The Colony have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in The Colony went from 5,366 in 2013 to 11,038 in 2023, +106%. The jobs ↓
A lot of The Colony works one town over
28% of working residents work in a town that borders The Colony: Plano (13%), Frisco (6%) and Carrollton (5%). Next door ↓
Home offices are common in The Colony
24% of The Colony workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Time on the road ↓
The Colony’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside The Colony is Dallas, 22 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (4,531) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The Colony empties out on a workday
About 31,000 people are in The Colony on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than the 46,000 who live here: 25,000 head out to work and 9,900 come in. Day and night ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: The Colony’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, The Colony is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #105 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, The Colony could be anywhere from A− to A+.
The kinds of work in The Colony
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in The Colony, 2013 → 2023: 5,366 → 11,038. 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 The Colony’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 27 minutes from The Colony
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of The Colony workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 21,154 commuters (the 24% 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 Colony’s commute, mile by mile
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.
In and out of The Colony on a workday
On a workday 25,210 residents head out to work, 1,128 work right here, and 9,910 people come in from elsewhere.
About 31,000 people are in The Colony on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
17% of working residents work in Dallas
Where The Colony clocks in
Lines 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.
Driving is how The Colony gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, The Colony is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns, #244 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.4% 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 27,747 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). 3.6% of The Colony households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of The Colony’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, The Colony is 200th of 969 U.S. towns of 32,000 to 62,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Keller TX | 46,078 | $175K | 3.4% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Coppell TX | 41,386 | $146K | 5.4% | 2.6% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Princeton TX | 43,524 | $105K | 4.1% | 2.5% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 198 | Beavercreek Township OH | 57,924 | $117K | 6.1% | 3.3% | 20% | A |
| 199 | Aboite Township IN | 43,968 | $108K | 5.4% | 3.0% | 15% | A |
| 200 | The Colony TX | 46,196 | $115K | 6.7% | 4.1% | 4% | A |
| 201 | Franklin WI | 36,687 | $107K | 6.7% | 3.4% | 8% | A |
| 202 | Commerce Township MI | 45,067 | $113K | 6.0% | 3.7% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 969 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 The Colony, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
The Colony and its neighbors: 28% work next door
The biggest share goes to Plano (13%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | The Colony workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Colony | – | A | B | 27 min | $114,511 |
| Lewisville | 4% | A− | B+ | 25 min | $89,233 |
| Little Elm | under 3% | B+ | C | 35 min | $119,219 |
| Carrollton | 5% | A | A− | 24 min | $101,396 |
| Frisco | 6% | A | B | 29 min | $150,212 |
| Hebron | under 3% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Plano | 13% | A | A− | 25 min | $112,253 |
Same-state neighbors only. Hebron: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of The Colony’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 The Colony: questions
What is the median household income in The Colony?
$114,511 (±$6,433) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in The Colony?
6.7%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from The Colony?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in The Colony work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dallas (17%, 22 mi), Plano (13%, 9 mi), Frisco (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is The Colony walkable?
The Colony is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around The Colony 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 The Colony, from the people who make the trip.
More of The Colony
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.