Stephenson House · Photo: local government · Public domainMaking a living in Oakman
Home is the office for 1% of workers, against 9% across Alabama. Only 2% stay in Oakman for work; outside it, Jasper is the main destination (20%, 12 miles). Working residents average 37 minutes each way; Alabama averages 26, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Oakman at work: what stands out
Oakman and Jasper trade workers both ways
Jasper is the top workplace for Oakman residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Oakman come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Oakman workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 26 across Alabama. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 84 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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; with 265 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Oakman’s working residents head each day
Where Oakman clocks in
20% of workers
14% of workers
2% 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.
Time on the road from Oakman: about 37 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oakman workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 269 commuters (the 1% who work from home are left out). Across Alabama: 88% 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.
Oakman by day and by night
On a workday 261 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 219 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 (0.84 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.
Oakman is a services town
223 jobs are based in Oakman.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oakman, 2013 → 2023: 180 → 223. 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 Oakman’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Oakman commutes
About 22% 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.
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 Oakman: questions
What is the median household income in Oakman?
$35,208 (±$28,840) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oakman?
25.0%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oakman?
37 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oakman work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jasper (20%, 12 mi), Birmingham (14%, 36 mi), Bessemer (2%, 34 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Oakman without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oakman, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oakman
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.