Households in Whitney have lower incomes than those in 89% of U.S. towns
23.9% of residents are in poverty; Texas has 13.8%. Whitney grades D for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Home is the office for 6% of workers (Texas 14%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Whitney apart
Whitney workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 38 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas. Over a year that’s about 291 hours of commuting, 84 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
50% 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 ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Whitney
50% of Whitney residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 29% of the jobs based in Whitney pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 90% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Whitney pay little
28% of the jobs based in Whitney pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 30% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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.
How Whitney earns its Jobs & income grade
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Whitney’s grade.
Unemployment (0.6%) is left out: Whitney’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, Whitney could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Time on the road from Whitney: about 38 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Whitney workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 672 commuters (the 6% 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 many miles Whitney commutes
About 50% 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.
Jobs in Whitney: what the 847 are
847 jobs are based in Whitney.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Whitney, 2013 → 2023: 1,049 → 847. 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 Whitney’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 919 residents head out to work, 98 work right here, and 749 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 (0.83 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.
7% of working residents work in Dallas
Where Whitney clocks in
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.
Driving is how Whitney gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Whitney is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 713 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). 2.2% of Whitney households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Whitney’s commuters take a bus or train.
Whitney next to U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Southside Place TX | 1,916 | $163K | 5.0% | 5.4% | 2% | A+ |
| 24 | Shoreacres TX | 1,535 | $131K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,932 | Westfield NY | 2,888 | $47K | 15.3% | 11.7% | 22% | D |
| 4,933 | Cooper TX | 2,049 | $44K | 23.4% | 2.7% | 13% | D |
| 4,934 | Whitney TX | 2,134 | $49K | 23.9% | 0.6% | 10% | D |
| 4,935 | Ramsey Township IL | 1,609 | $55K | 18.0% | 1.8% | 3% | D |
| 4,936 | Buck Township OH | 2,340 | $43K | 24.1% | 3.2% | 13% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | 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 Whitney, 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 Whitney: questions
What is the median household income in Whitney?
$48,571 (±$11,340) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Whitney?
23.9%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Whitney?
38 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Whitney work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dallas (7%, 66 mi), Waco (7%, 28 mi), Fort Worth (6%, 57 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Whitney walkable?
Whitney is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Whitney without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Whitney, from the people who make the trip.
More of Whitney
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.