Photo: Johnyy0398 · CC BY-SA 4.0Zapata has lower household incomes than 92% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 32.5% of residents, next to 13.8% for Texas as a whole. The two grades for Zapata are D for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in seven work in Zapata itself; outside it, Laredo draws the most (29%, 48 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Zapata: the figures worth knowing
Fewer jobs are based in Zapata than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Zapata fell from 1,711 in 2013 to 868 in 2023, −49%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Fewer than half of Zapata workers earn over $40,000 a year
38% of Zapata’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 22% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
41% 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 ↓
29% of Zapata works in Laredo
499 working residents, 29%, have their main job in Laredo, 48 miles away. That’s twice as many as work in Zapata itself. The commute map ↓
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.
Where Zapata’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Zapata is better than 15% of U.S. towns, #555 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Zapata’s grade up (2.1%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Zapata could be anywhere from D− to C.
The 868 jobs based in Zapata
868 jobs are based in Zapata.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Zapata, 2013 → 2023: 1,711 → 868. 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 Zapata’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Zapata, by distance
About 41% 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 Zapata’s working residents head each day
Where Zapata clocks in
29% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Zapata
On a workday 1,496 residents head out to work, 246 work right here, and 622 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,000 people are in Zapata on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.50 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 2023, primary jobs.
A commute of about 23 minutes in Zapata
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Zapata workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,518 commuters (the 9% 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.
The commute in Zapata is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Zapata is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns, #152 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% of 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 1,668 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). 14.1% of Zapata households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Zapata’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,840 U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,600, Zapata comes 3,359th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 8 | Haslet TX | 5,267 | $169K | 2.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Garden Ridge TX | 4,371 | $177K | 0.4% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,357 | North Braddock PA | 4,107 | $35K | 28.8% | 16.3% | 2% | D |
| 3,358 | Carrollton Township MI | 5,585 | $50K | 34.5% | 8.4% | 4% | D |
| 3,359 | Zapata TX | 4,897 | $45K | 32.5% | 2.1% | 14% | D |
| 3,360 | Marseilles IL | 4,809 | $58K | 21.5% | 7.5% | 6% | D |
| 3,361 | Sauk Centre MN | 4,663 | $63K | 19.5% | 6.5% | 34% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,840 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Zapata, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
The towns around Zapata
The biggest share goes to Falcon Lake Estates (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Zapata workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zapata | – | D | B | 23 min | $45,488 |
| Falcon Mesa | under 3% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Medina | 3% | D− | C | 22 min | $21,506 |
| Falcon Lake Estates | 6% | D | D− | 29 min | $65,909 |
Same-state neighbors only. Falcon Mesa: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Zapata’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 Zapata: questions
What is the median household income in Zapata?
$45,488 (±$13,404) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Zapata?
32.5%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Zapata?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Zapata work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Laredo (29%, 48 mi), Falcon Lake Estates (6%, 2 mi), McAllen (5%, 78 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Zapata walkable?
Zapata is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Zapata without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Zapata, from the people who make the trip.
More of Zapata
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.