Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Oxford has higher unemployment (5.5%) than 68% of U.S. towns
The average commute, 25 minutes each way, matches the Alabama norm. Jobs and income earn Oxford C; getting around on foot earns it C−. There are 11,000 jobs in Oxford; 8,461 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Oxford in brief
Oxford draws workers from far and wide
The 11,000 jobs in Oxford are filled from a wide area. Oxford’s own residents hold 15% and the ten next-biggest home towns 23%; the other 62% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
32% of the jobs based in Oxford are held by workers 29 or younger, against 25% of Oxford’s own working residents. 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.
The figures behind Oxford’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oxford is better than 32% of U.S. towns, #101 of 187 in Alabama. Household income holds Oxford’s grade up ($74,268, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oxford could be anywhere from C− to B−.
22% of working residents work in Anniston
Where Oxford clocks in
22% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
What Oxford’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oxford, 2013 → 2023: 10,586 → 11,000. 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 Oxford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Oxford on a workday afternoon
On a workday 6,816 residents head out to work, 1,645 work right here, and 9,355 people come in from elsewhere.
About 25,000 people are in Oxford on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.30 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.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Oxford
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oxford workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,735 commuters (the 4% 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.
How far it is to work from Oxford
About 25% 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.
Getting around Oxford: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oxford is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns, #124 of 187 in Alabama. Both inputs place Oxford near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,159 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). 1.4% of Oxford households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Oxford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Oxford is 1,343rd of 1,658 U.S. towns of 16,000 to 30,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Trussville AL | 27,273 | $123K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Helena AL | 23,388 | $115K | 3.2% | 2.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,341 | Montrose CO | 21,583 | $70K | 11.6% | 5.0% | 52% | C |
| 1,342 | Auburn ME | 25,441 | $67K | 13.8% | 7.0% | 27% | C |
| 1,343 | Oxford AL | 22,199 | $74K | 15.8% | 5.5% | 19% | C |
| 1,344 | Arcata CA | 19,047 | $47K | 27.2% | 11.9% | 36% | C |
| 1,345 | Willmar MN | 22,001 | $62K | 13.1% | 4.8% | 60% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,658 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Oxford, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
22% of Oxford works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Anniston. Darker towns draw more of Oxford’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 Oxford: questions
What is the median household income in Oxford?
$74,268 (±$4,067) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oxford?
15.8%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oxford?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oxford work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Anniston (22%, 6 mi), Birmingham (4%, 54 mi), Talladega (3%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oxford walkable?
Oxford is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oxford without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oxford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oxford
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.