Photo: Satxra · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Weslaco (7.1%) than in 83% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Weslaco is behind 75% of U.S. towns. Weslaco grades C− for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in four work in Weslaco itself; outside it, McAllen draws the most (12%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The four measures behind Weslaco’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Weslaco is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #472 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Weslaco’s grade up (ahead of 78% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (23.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Weslaco could be anywhere from C− to C+.
The daily commute in and out of Weslaco
On a workday 11,175 residents head out to work, 3,986 work right here, and 17,131 people come in from elsewhere.
About 50,000 people are in Weslaco on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.39 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.
The places Weslaco commutes to
Where Weslaco clocks in
12% of workers
7% 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.
What the 21,117 jobs in Weslaco are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Weslaco, 2013 → 2023: 17,392 → 21,117. 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 Weslaco’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Weslaco takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Weslaco workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,730 commuters (the 7% 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.
How far Weslaco goes to work
About 20% 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.
The commute in Weslaco is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Weslaco is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns, #176 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place Weslaco near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 16,974 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). 9.6% of Weslaco households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Weslaco’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 31,000 to 60,000, Weslaco ranks 896th of 1,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Keller TX | 46,078 | $175K | 3.4% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Coppell TX | 41,386 | $146K | 5.4% | 2.6% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 894 | Joplin MO | 53,930 | $52K | 16.9% | 5.3% | 50% | C |
| 895 | San Juan TX | 37,868 | $57K | 22.4% | 7.4% | 5% | C |
| 896 | Weslaco TX | 44,203 | $60K | 23.2% | 7.1% | 26% | C− |
| 897 | Dover DE | 40,592 | $60K | 15.0% | 8.0% | 31% | C− |
| 898 | Kokomo IN | 59,999 | $55K | 17.1% | 6.2% | 44% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,000 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Weslaco, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
Around Weslaco: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Mercedes (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Weslaco workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weslaco | – | C− | B | 24 min | $59,551 |
| Llano Grande | under 3% | C+ | C+ | 19 min | $40,114 |
| Midway South | under 3% | C− | D | 20 min | $54,427 |
| Midway North | under 3% | C | B− | 29 min | $58,184 |
| Mila Doce | under 3% | D | D | 23 min | $50,921 |
| Mercedes | 4% | C− | C | 19 min | $46,904 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Weslaco’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 Weslaco: questions
What is the median household income in Weslaco?
$59,551 (±$5,836) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Weslaco?
23.2%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Weslaco?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Weslaco work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are McAllen (12%, 17 mi), Edinburg (7%, 15 mi), Harlingen (6%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Weslaco walkable?
Weslaco is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Weslaco without a car?
<1% 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 Weslaco, from the people who make the trip.
More of Weslaco
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.