An interesting dataset from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shows income by place of work and how much of that income is “commuted” to neighboring counties. In 2011, residents living in Rural Capital counties carried $7.8 billion in earned income across a county line due to their commute to jobs in neighboring counties. Williamson County residents brought in $5.2 billion, Hays residents brought in $1.3 billion, and Bastrop residents brought in $671 million.

Bastrop residents registered the highest share of income earned out-of-county: 48%. Williamson, Llano, and Caldwell counties registered 38-39%, while just 18% of Burnet income was earned out-of-county.

Most interesting is the change in these percentages: In the last 5 years (2006-2011), most counties registered a drop in the share of income earned out-of-county. This indicates that high job creation in these counties is allowing workers to find jobs locally. Caldwell and Bastrop registered the largest drops in “commuter reliance” (16% and 9%) and Williamson County has experienced just a small 1% drop. Fayette and Hays counties experienced a net increase in commuter income.