Photo: Smarty9108 · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Watauga works elsewhere
Only 2% work in Watauga; the top destination outside it is Fort Worth (26%, 8 miles). There are 3,943 jobs in Watauga, and 11,295 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Watauga is better than 68% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Watauga, in a few figures
The better-paid jobs are outside Watauga
64% of Watauga residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 32% of the jobs based in Watauga pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 98% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Watauga and Fort Worth trade workers both ways
Fort Worth is the top workplace for Watauga residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Watauga come from (29% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Many jobs in Watauga pay little
27% of the jobs based in Watauga pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 38% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Watauga empties out on a workday
About 16,000 people are in Watauga on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than the 23,000 who live here: 11,000 head out to work and 3,700 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
The four measures behind Watauga’s grade
Job access by car holds Watauga’s grade up (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Watauga could be anywhere from B− to A.
The kinds of work in Watauga
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Watauga, 2013 → 2023: 4,158 → 3,943. 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 Watauga’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting out of Watauga: the destinations
Where Watauga clocks in
26% 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.
Watauga by day and by night
On a workday 11,092 residents head out to work, 203 work right here, and 3,740 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Watauga on a workday afternoon, 32% 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.
About 29 minutes each way for Watauga’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Watauga workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,868 commuters (the 16% 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.
Half of Watauga commutes less than 12 miles
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.
Most trips from Watauga start in a car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% 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 11,778 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.7% of Watauga households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Watauga’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 16,000 to 31,000, Watauga ranks 848th of 1,712 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Colleyville TX | 25,727 | $218K | 2.5% | 3.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Corinth TX | 25,297 | $121K | 3.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Bellaire TX | 17,434 | $244K | 2.4% | 3.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 846 | Fairburn GA | 17,133 | $92K | 17.5% | 3.2% | 5% | B+ |
| 847 | Mebane NC | 21,952 | $83K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 11% | B+ |
| 848 | Watauga TX | 22,981 | $91K | 11.3% | 5.1% | 2% | B+ |
| 849 | Ocean Springs MS | 18,993 | $80K | 5.5% | 4.2% | 23% | B+ |
| 850 | Harrison NJ | 22,105 | $93K | 11.8% | 5.3% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,712 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Watauga, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Watauga and its neighbors: 36% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Watauga workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watauga | – | B+ | B | 29 min | $91,171 |
| Keller | 3% | A+ | B− | 27 min | $174,950 |
| North Richland Hills | 3% | A | B+ | 27 min | $97,305 |
| Fort Worth | 26% | B | B+ | 27 min | $79,507 |
| Haltom City | 4% | B− | B− | 25 min | $59,057 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Fort Worth. Darker towns draw more of Watauga’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 Watauga: questions
What is the median household income in Watauga?
$91,171 (±$8,236) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Watauga?
11.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Watauga?
29 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Watauga work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Worth (26%, 8 mi), Dallas (8%, 29 mi), Irving (6%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Watauga walkable?
Watauga is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Watauga without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Watauga, from the people who make the trip.
More of Watauga
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.