Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Households in Waller have lower incomes than those in 96% of U.S. towns
25.5% of residents live below the poverty line (Texas 13.8%). Waller grades C+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 4% of workers, where Texas as a whole has 14%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Waller in brief
Jobs in Waller have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Waller went from 1,135 in 2013 to 2,539 in 2023, +124%. The jobs ↓
40% of Waller works in Houston
576 working residents, 40%, have their main job in Houston, 38 miles away. That’s 13 times as many as work in Waller itself. The commute map ↓
Waller is where the jobs are
Waller has 2,539 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
The biggest group of Waller’s workers comes from Houston
227 of the people who work in Waller live in Houston, 38 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
Few Waller workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Waller
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waller is better than 44% of U.S. towns, #329 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Waller’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($39,969, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waller could be anywhere from C to B.
Factories, building and farms: 29% of the jobs in Waller
2,539 jobs are based in Waller.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waller, 2013 → 2023: 1,135 → 2,539. 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 Waller’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Waller’s workforce comes from
Where Waller clocks in
40% of workers
4% of workers
2% 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.
Who leaves Waller for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,394 residents head out to work, 48 work right here, and 2,491 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,500 people are in Waller on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
1.8 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.
The trip to work from Waller: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waller workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,502 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Waller
About 18% 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.
Getting around Waller: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waller is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #122 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% 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 1,564 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). 10.3% of Waller households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Waller’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Waller is 2,152nd among 3,541 U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,300
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Garden Ridge TX | 4,371 | $177K | 0.4% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,150 | Mead WA | 6,893 | $77K | 7.4% | 8.6% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,151 | Posen IL | 5,405 | $73K | 21.5% | 6.1% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,152 | Waller TX | 5,380 | $40K | 25.5% | 2.0% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,153 | Wayne Township IN | 4,603 | $60K | 9.1% | 2.2% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,154 | Milo NY | 6,772 | $63K | 12.4% | 1.5% | 27% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,541 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Waller, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Waller and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Waller workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waller | – | C+ | B+ | 31 min | $39,969 |
| Prairie View | 4% | C | B+ | 24 min | $21,060 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Prairie View. Darker towns draw more of Waller’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 Waller: questions
What is the median household income in Waller?
$39,969 (±$11,372) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waller?
25.5%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waller?
31 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waller work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (40%, 38 mi), Prairie View (4%, 3 mi), Austin (2%, 110 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waller walkable?
Waller is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waller without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waller, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waller
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.