Tomball has 2.3 jobs for every working resident: 14,492 people commute in to work
Tomball has 15,293 jobs, against 6,643 working residents. For jobs and income Tomball is better than 75% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (B−). A typical one-way commute lasts 33 minutes (Texas 27, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Tomball
Tomball draws workers from far and wide
The 15,293 jobs in Tomball are filled from a wide area. Tomball’s own residents hold 5% and the ten next-biggest home towns 19%; the other 76% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Tomball is where the jobs are
Tomball has 15,293 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 24,000 people are in town, 55% more than the 16,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
39% of Tomball works in Houston
2,565 working residents, 39%, have their main job in Houston. That’s 3 times as many as work in Tomball itself. The commute map ↓
Tomball 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 ↓
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.
The four measures behind Tomball’s grade
Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (9.2%, U.S. 12.5%). 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, Tomball could be anywhere from B− to A.
Where Tomball’s workers come from
Where Tomball clocks in
39% of workers
4% of workers
2% 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.
Who commutes out of Tomball, and who commutes in
On a workday 5,842 residents head out to work and 801 work right here.
About 24,000 people are in Tomball on a workday afternoon, 55% more 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.
About 33 minutes each way, longer than most of Texas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tomball workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,993 commuters (the 20% 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 kinds of work in Tomball
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tomball, 2013 → 2023: 11,574 → 15,293. 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 Tomball’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Tomball’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.
Few in Tomball walk, bike or ride to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% 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 6,222 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). 6.6% of Tomball households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Tomball’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Tomball is 840th among 2,109 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 4 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Lantana TX | 12,766 | $199K | 0.6% | 2.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Bellaire TX | 17,434 | $244K | 2.4% | 3.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 838 | Fairwood WA | 17,856 | $122K | 8.4% | 5.3% | 2% | B+ |
| 839 | Godfrey IL | 17,620 | $95K | 6.4% | 4.6% | 7% | B+ |
| 840 | Tomball TX | 15,768 | $79K | 9.2% | 3.3% | 12% | B+ |
| 841 | Tittabawassee Township MI | 11,007 | $107K | 5.6% | 4.3% | 9% | B+ |
| 842 | Aston Township PA | 16,760 | $99K | 6.0% | 6.2% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Tomball, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Bordering towns draw 39% of Tomball’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Houston. Darker towns draw more of Tomball’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 Tomball: questions
What is the median household income in Tomball?
$78,562 (±$9,128) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tomball?
9.2%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tomball?
33 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tomball work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (39%, 26 mi), The Woodlands (4%, 8 mi), Conroe (2%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tomball walkable?
Tomball is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tomball without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tomball, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tomball
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.