Photo: HIM Nguyen · CC BY-SA 3.0At 12.3%, unemployment in Willis is higher than in 97% of U.S. towns
For 5% of workers, the job is at home, next to 14% for Texas as a whole. The two grades for Willis are C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Only 7% stay in Willis for work; outside it, Houston is the main destination (24%, 45 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Willis: the gist
Willis’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Willis is Houston, 45 miles away as the crow flies. 24% of working residents (760) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Willis has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Willis went from 2,220 in 2013 to 4,197 in 2023, +89%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The figures behind Willis’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Willis is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #391 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Willis’ grade up (ahead of 71% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Willis could be anywhere from C− to B.
Willis’ commute, mile by mile
About 24% 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 4,197 jobs based in Willis
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Willis, 2013 → 2023: 2,220 → 4,197. 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 Willis’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Willis: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,912 residents head out to work, 207 work right here, and 3,990 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,700 people are in Willis on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.35 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 towns that employ Willis’ residents
Where Willis clocks in
24% of workers
18% of workers
5% 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 24 minutes each way for Willis’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Willis workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,840 commuters (the 5% 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.
Willis is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Willis is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #87 of 642 in Texas. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.0% across Texas, on an EPA index of 7.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,002 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). 8.3% of Willis households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Willis’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 5,400 to 10,300, Willis ranks 2,172nd of 3,018 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Hickory Creek TX | 6,875 | $149K | 2.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Oak Point TX | 6,909 | $126K | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,170 | Batavia NY | 7,096 | $67K | 9.2% | 7.0% | 12% | C |
| 2,171 | St. Gabriel LA | 6,987 | $75K | 17.6% | 8.3% | 9% | C |
| 2,172 | Willis TX | 7,652 | $69K | 11.1% | 12.3% | 7% | C |
| 2,173 | Gardiner ME | 6,206 | $72K | 10.5% | 7.5% | 14% | C |
| 2,174 | Abingdon VA | 8,284 | $55K | 15.9% | 3.0% | 26% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,018 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Willis, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
The towns next door employ 18% of Willis
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Conroe. Darker towns draw more of Willis’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 Willis: questions
What is the median household income in Willis?
$68,632 (±$13,168) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Willis?
11.1%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Willis?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Willis work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (24%, 45 mi), Conroe (18%, 7 mi), The Woodlands (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Willis walkable?
Willis is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Willis without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Willis, from the people who make the trip.
More of Willis
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.