Photo: Texasfebruary2008_004.jpg: Bernardino Trevilla Langer CzechStopFFF2010_4kpx.jpg: Lm13700 Aerial_view_of_town_of_West,_TX_looking_northeast.jpg: HuecoBear derivative work: Jayb · CC BY-SA 3.0West has lower unemployment (2.4%) than 79% of U.S. towns
About one in five stay in West for work; outside it, Waco is the main destination (25%, 18 miles). Jobs and income earn West B−; getting around on foot earns it A−. Measured by household income, West is behind 71% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set West apart
West trades workers with the towns around it
West has about as many jobs (1,202) as working residents (1,227), but they are mostly different people: 1,003 residents leave for work each day while 978 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in West are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside West
60% of West residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 42% of the jobs based in West pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 82% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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 ↓
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.
Why West gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, West is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #294 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds West’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($61,875, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, West could be anywhere from C− to B+.
The daily commute in and out of West
On a workday 1,003 residents head out to work, 224 work right here, and 978 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.98 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 1,202 jobs based in West
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West, 2013 → 2023: 1,269 → 1,202. 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 West’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from West
About 31% 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.
Where people from West work
Where West clocks in
3% 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.
About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of Texas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,040 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.
West is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, West is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #51 of 642 in Texas. Both inputs place West 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 1,159 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). 5.6% of West households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of West’s commuters take a bus or train.
West places 2,269th of 5,083 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Southside Place TX | 1,916 | $163K | 5.0% | 5.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,267 | Porterfield WI | 1,927 | $75K | 2.7% | 3.3% | 2% | B− |
| 2,268 | Val Verde Park TX | 3,139 | $62K | 10.4% | 0.0% | <1% | B− |
| 2,269 | West TX | 2,629 | $62K | 11.9% | 2.4% | 18% | B− |
| 2,270 | Clarendon NY | 3,326 | $58K | 10.1% | 2.8% | 3% | B− |
| 2,271 | Windsor Township OH | 2,732 | $84K | 21.1% | 1.4% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 West, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
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 West: questions
What is the median household income in West?
$61,875 (±$9,705) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West?
11.9%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waco (25%, 18 mi), Austin (3%, 111 mi), Lacy-Lakeview (3%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is West walkable?
West is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around West 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 West, from the people who make the trip.
More of West
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.