Household incomes in Western Lake trail those of 98% of U.S. towns
5.8% of residents are in poverty (Texas 13.8%). The two grades for Western Lake are C+ for jobs and income and D− for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 0% of workers, where Texas as a whole has 14%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Western Lake: the figures worth knowing
Western Lake is a place people come home to
There are 98 jobs based in Western Lake, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Western Lake has about 320 people in it, 72% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Western Lake’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Western Lake is Fort Worth, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (211) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Western Lake workers work from home
Only 0% 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 940 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Western Lake: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Western Lake is better than 44% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Western Lake’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($34,388, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
Unemployment (33.9%) is left out: Western Lake’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Western Lake could be anywhere from C− to B.
How many people are in Western Lake by day
On a workday 938 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 96 people come in from elsewhere.
About 320 people are in Western Lake on a workday afternoon, 72% fewer than live here.
0.10 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
How far it is to work from Western Lake
About 27% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
How long Western Lake spends getting to work: about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Western Lake workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 376 commuters (the 0% 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.
22% of working residents work in Fort Worth
Where Western Lake clocks in
22% of workers
19% 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.
Most jobs in Western Lake are in services
98 jobs are based in Western Lake.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Western Lake, 2014 → 2024: 10 → 98. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Western Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute in Western Lake is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Western Lake is more walkable than 4% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Western Lake 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 376 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). 0.0% of Western Lake households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Western Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,713th of 4,312: where Western Lake ranks among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Seis Lagos TX | 1,391 | $249K | 1.2% | 4.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Rollingwood TX | 1,466 | $240K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Serenada TX | 1,444 | $155K | 1.5% | 2.6% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,711 | Wetmore Township PA | 1,567 | $83K | 6.3% | 0.3% | 6% | C+ |
| 1,712 | Royalton WI | 1,330 | $79K | 9.1% | 5.7% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,713 | Western Lake TX | 1,165 | $34K | 5.8% | 33.9% | <1% | C+ |
| 1,714 | Porter Township PA | 1,503 | $73K | 8.6% | 1.3% | 5% | C+ |
| 1,715 | Albany LA | 1,244 | $47K | 6.8% | 2.2% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Western Lake, 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 2024, 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 Western Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Western Lake?
$34,388 (±$10,426) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Western Lake?
5.8%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Western Lake?
34 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Western Lake work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Worth (22%, 29 mi), Weatherford (19%, 10 mi), Dallas (6%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Western Lake walkable?
Western Lake is more walkable than 4% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Western Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Western Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Western Lake
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.