Photo: Wkstormwater · CC BY-SA 4.0About half of Universal City’s working residents commute to San Antonio
Only 3% work in Universal City itself; outside it, San Antonio draws the most (48%, 14 miles). The two grades for Universal City are B for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. At 26 minutes each way, commutes from Universal City run about the Texas average.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Universal City: the figures worth knowing
Why Universal City gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Universal City is better than 62% of U.S. towns, #238 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Universal City’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Universal City could be anywhere from C+ to A.
The towns that employ Universal City’s residents
Where Universal City clocks in
48% of workers
6% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Universal City
On a workday 7,920 residents head out to work, 266 work right here, and 4,390 people come in from elsewhere.
About 17,000 people are in Universal City 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.
The kinds of work in Universal City
4,656 jobs are based in Universal City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Universal City, 2013 → 2023: 4,419 → 4,656. 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 Universal City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 26 minutes from Universal City
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Universal City workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,328 commuters (the 10% 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 in the region Universal City works
About 19% 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.
Few in Universal City walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Universal City is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns, #352 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% 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 10,358 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). 1.7% of Universal City households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Universal City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Universal City next to U.S. towns of 14,000 to 28,000: 1,041st of 1,931 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Colleyville TX | 25,727 | $218K | 2.5% | 3.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Corinth TX | 25,297 | $121K | 3.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Bellaire TX | 17,434 | $244K | 2.4% | 3.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,039 | Chubbuck ID | 16,823 | $83K | 6.0% | 4.3% | 14% | B |
| 1,040 | Mount Holly NC | 19,033 | $79K | 8.2% | 5.5% | 5% | B |
| 1,041 | Universal City TX | 20,399 | $75K | 8.8% | 5.3% | 3% | B |
| 1,042 | West Richland WA | 19,257 | $120K | 8.5% | 4.8% | 7% | B |
| 1,043 | Sycamore Township OH | 19,651 | $83K | 8.5% | 6.2% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,931 | 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 Universal City, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
The towns next door employ 14% of Universal City
The biggest share goes to Schertz (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Universal City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universal City | – | B | C+ | 26 min | $74,811 |
| Selma | 2% | A− | C | 30 min | $97,066 |
| Schertz | 6% | A− | C | 32 min | $99,948 |
| Converse | 1% | A− | B− | 27 min | $94,222 |
| Live Oak | 5% | B+ | B | 21 min | $79,696 |
| Randolph AFB | under 2% | A+ | A | 17 min | $113,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Universal City’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 Universal City: questions
What is the median household income in Universal City?
$74,811 (±$5,711) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Universal City?
8.8%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Universal City?
26 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Universal City work?
3% work in town.
Is Universal City walkable?
Universal City is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Universal City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Universal City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Universal City
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.