Proximity to jobs is important for all residents as it can affect employment outcomes, but it is especially crucial for low-income households whose budgets can be disproportionately impacted by transportation costs and long commutes. This tool visualizes neighborhood-level commuting patterns in Harris County.

The analysis uses Kinder Community Tabulation Areas as neighborhood boundaries that are designed to serve as approximations of neighborhoods, based specifically on census geographic boundaries, to facilitate the aggregation of data to geographies larger than census tracts, but smaller than counties.

To use, click "Commuting Pattern (All Workers)" tab to view the commuting pattern of all Harris County workers. To highlight the commuting patterns of the working poor, those who earn $3,333 or less per month, we separated out the data and visualized it in the "Commuting Pattern (The Working Poor)" tab. The Work map (blue) and table show the number of jobs within each neighborhood. The Home map (brown) and table show the number of workers living in each neighborhood.

When you select a neighborhood on the Work map, the Home map will display where workers employed in the job center reside. For example, if you click and select Uptown on the Work map, the Home map will tell you where Uptown workers live. The darker and bigger the dot is, the more workers live in that neighborhood.

Similarly, when you select a neighborhood on the Home map, the Work map will display where the residents from the selected neighborhood work. For example, if you click and select Pasadena on the Home map, the Work map will tell you where Pasadena residents work.

User guide: Click on the map to select a neighborhood, and click again to unselect. Click the pin icon to reset map. Click “+” to zoom in and click “-“ to zoom out.

Data Source: LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics 2014