Van has higher unemployment (5.5%) than 68% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 31 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. Jobs and income earn Van C+; getting around on foot earns it C. About one in seven stay in Van for work; outside it, Tyler is the main destination (13%, 24 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Van and work: the main findings
Van trades workers with the towns around it
Van has about as many jobs (1,247) as working residents (1,052), but they are mostly different people: 892 residents leave for work each day while 1,087 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in Van are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Van’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Van is Tyler, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (140) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Van has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Van went from 892 in 2013 to 1,247 in 2023, +40%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
Inside Van’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Van is better than 39% of U.S. towns, #352 of 642 in Texas. The poverty rate holds Van’s grade up (8.7%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Van could be anywhere from C− to A−.
The workday shuffle in and out of Van
On a workday 892 residents head out to work, 160 work right here, and 1,087 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.19 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Near or far: the trip to work from Van
About 35% 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.
Inside Van’s 1,247 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Van, 2013 → 2023: 892 → 1,247. 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’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Van goes to work
Where Van clocks in
13% of workers
3% 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.
About 31 minutes each way, longer than most of Texas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Van workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 936 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.
Few in Van walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Van is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns, #486 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,172 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). 2.5% of Van households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Van’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Van is 2,733rd of 4,618 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,731 | Lake Placid NY | 2,258 | $42K | 9.0% | 1.1% | 24% | C+ |
| 2,732 | Liberty PA | 2,242 | $74K | 13.3% | 8.9% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,733 | Van TX | 2,993 | $69K | 8.7% | 5.5% | 15% | C+ |
| 2,734 | Gray GA | 3,567 | $73K | 7.4% | 7.0% | 13% | C+ |
| 2,735 | Monroe City MO | 2,714 | $56K | 12.7% | 0.8% | 22% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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, 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: questions
What is the median household income in Van?
$69,155 (±$9,788) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Van?
8.7%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Van?
31 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Van work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tyler (13%, 24 mi), Dallas (4%, 68 mi), Canton (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Van walkable?
Van is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Van without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Van, from the people who make the trip.
More of Van
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.