Photo: Dorothea Lange · Public domainUnemployment in Oildale (11.6%) is higher than in 97% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Oildale is better than 16% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (A−). Measured by household income, Oildale is behind 86% of U.S. towns. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 5.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 3.9 in Bakersfield.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Oildale: the gist
Oildale and Bakersfield trade workers both ways
Bakersfield is the top workplace for Oildale residents (37%) and also where the most people who work in Oildale come from (41% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Oildale are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Oildale residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
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 four measures behind Oildale’s grade
Job access by car holds Oildale’s grade up (ahead of 78% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oildale could be anywhere from D to C−.
37% of working residents work in Bakersfield
Where Oildale clocks in
37% 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.
From Oildale, about 23 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oildale workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,059 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many miles Oildale commutes
About 29% 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.
Oildale quiets down on a workday
On a workday 10,874 residents head out to work, 1,011 work right here, and 7,174 people come in from elsewhere.
About 31,000 people are in Oildale on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.69 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.
What work there is in Oildale: 8,185 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oildale, 2013 → 2023: 7,865 → 8,185. 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 Oildale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Oildale
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 12,679 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 91% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 24% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 86% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 10.9% of Oildale households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Oildale’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Oildale compares with U.S. towns of 24,000 to 47,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 121 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,220 | Le Ray NY | 24,259 | $63K | 13.0% | 8.5% | 6% | C− |
| 1,221 | Hamtramck MI | 27,261 | $39K | 39.9% | 13.1% | 6% | C− |
| 1,222 | Oildale CA | 34,687 | $51K | 25.2% | 11.6% | 9% | C− |
| 1,223 | Danville VA | 41,647 | $44K | 24.7% | 5.6% | 47% | C− |
| 1,224 | Wheeling WV | 25,680 | $49K | 20.5% | 6.5% | 40% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,287 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Oildale, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Work next door: 37% of Oildale’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oildale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oildale | – | C− | A− | 23 min | $51,298 |
| Bakersfield | 37% | C+ | B+ | 24 min | $80,540 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Bakersfield. Darker towns draw more of Oildale’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 Oildale: questions
What is the median household income in Oildale?
$51,298 (±$3,807) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oildale?
25.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oildale?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oildale work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bakersfield (37%, 5 mi), Los Angeles (4%, 104 mi), Shafter (2%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oildale walkable?
Oildale is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oildale without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 24% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oildale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oildale
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.