Jobs and earnings in Waelder, and the trip to work
The trip to work takes 26 minutes on average; Texas averages 27, the U.S. 26. Only 8% work in Waelder itself; outside it, Gonzales draws the most (12%, 15 miles). Employers in Waelder report 497 jobs; 330 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Waelder
Waelder makes and builds things
86% of the jobs based in Waelder are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Waelder residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 36%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
39% 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 ↓
The jobs in Waelder pay better than its residents’ jobs
71% of the jobs based in Waelder pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 54% of the jobs Waelder residents hold. 95% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Waelder. 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; with 330 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Goods, not services: 86% of the jobs in Waelder
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waelder, 2013 → 2023: 596 → 497. 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 Waelder’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Waelder commutes less than 41 miles
About 39% 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.
Waelder fills up on a workday
On a workday 304 residents head out to work, 26 work right here, and 471 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Waelder on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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 Waelder’s workforce comes from
Where Waelder clocks in
12% of workers
7% of workers
7% 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.
Waelder’s commute takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waelder workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 330 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.
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 Waelder: questions
What is the median household income in Waelder?
$61,214 (±$14,856) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waelder?
13.4%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waelder?
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 Waelder work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Gonzales (12%, 15 mi), Austin (7%, 50 mi), San Antonio (7%, 75 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Waelder without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waelder, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waelder
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.