Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Van Alstyne (0.6%) is lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
27% of workers work from home, where Texas as a whole has 14%. For jobs and income Van Alstyne is better than 92% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (A−). Household incomes here are higher than in 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Van Alstyne stands out on work
A lot of Van Alstyne works from home
27% of Van Alstyne workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Time on the road ↓
Van Alstyne has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Van Alstyne went from 857 in 2013 to 1,400 in 2023, +63%. The jobs ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Van Alstyne
Unemployment is its strongest input; the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (7.0%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Van Alstyne could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
A commute of about 31 minutes in Van Alstyne
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Van Alstyne workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,951 commuters (the 27% 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.
Van Alstyne makes things: 31% of its jobs are in goods
1,400 jobs are based in Van Alstyne.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Van Alstyne, 2013 → 2023: 857 → 1,400. 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 Van Alstyne’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Van Alstyne, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,187 residents head out to work, 101 work right here, and 1,299 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,100 people are in Van Alstyne on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.61 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.
Where the trip to work from Van Alstyne ends
Where Van Alstyne clocks in
14% 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.
How far Van Alstyne goes to work
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.
Van Alstyne is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,678 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). 3.0% of Van Alstyne households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Van Alstyne’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 5,600 to 10,800, Van Alstyne ranks 332nd of 3,015 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Oak Point TX | 6,909 | $126K | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 330 | Fair Haven NJ | 6,096 | $250K | 1.1% | 4.9% | 6% | A |
| 331 | Closter NJ | 8,663 | $190K | 8.1% | 3.3% | 6% | A |
| 332 | Van Alstyne TX | 8,012 | $102K | 7.0% | 0.6% | 4% | A |
| 333 | North Caldwell NJ | 6,815 | $208K | 1.7% | 6.0% | 3% | A |
| 334 | Westmoreland NY | 5,834 | $105K | 3.2% | 0.0% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,015 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Van Alstyne, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
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 Van Alstyne: questions
What is the median household income in Van Alstyne?
$102,469 (±$21,579) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Van Alstyne?
7.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Van Alstyne?
31 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Van Alstyne work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are McKinney (14%, 16 mi), Plano (13%, 27 mi), Sherman (6%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Van Alstyne walkable?
Van Alstyne is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Van Alstyne without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Van Alstyne, from the people who make the trip.
More of Van Alstyne
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.