Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Vega has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
4% of workers have no commute at all, where Texas as a whole has 14%. 92 jobs are based in Vega; 323 of its residents have a job. Only 7% stay in Vega for work; outside it, Amarillo is the main destination (24%, 34 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Vega
Vega’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Vega is Amarillo, 34 miles away as the crow flies. 24% of working residents (78) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Vega is a place people come home to
There are 92 jobs based in Vega, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Vega has about 660 people in it, 26% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Vega 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; with 323 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Vega’s commute, mile by mile
About 26% 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.
Who commutes out of Vega, and who commutes in
On a workday 301 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 70 people come in from elsewhere.
About 660 people are in Vega on a workday afternoon, 26% 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.
How long Vega spends getting to work: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vega workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 490 commuters (the 4% 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 people from Vega work
Where Vega clocks in
24% of workers
12% of workers
5% 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.
What Vega’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vega, 2013 → 2023: 197 → 92. 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 Vega’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Vega: questions
What is the median household income in Vega?
$78,125 (±$14,889) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vega?
21.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vega?
33 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vega work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Amarillo (24%, 34 mi), Boys Ranch (12%, 22 mi), Wildorado (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Vega 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 Vega, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vega
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.