At 7.9%, unemployment in Oak Ridge is higher than in 88% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Oak Ridge are C for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Measured by household income, Oak Ridge is behind 82% of U.S. towns. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 4.3 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 8.0 in Orlando.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Oak Ridge
Oak Ridge trades workers with the towns around it
Oak Ridge has about as many jobs (9,660) as working residents (10,968), but they are mostly different people: 10,699 residents leave for work each day while 9,391 people come in. Only 3% of the jobs in Oak Ridge are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Oak Ridge draws workers from far and wide
The 9,660 jobs in Oak Ridge are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 24%; the other 73% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Oak Ridge’s working residents have a job less than 8 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 31 minutes, longer than the Florida average of 28. Time on the road ↓
The jobs in Oak Ridge pay better than its residents’ jobs
62% of the jobs based in Oak Ridge pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 42% of the jobs Oak Ridge residents hold. 97% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Oak Ridge. The jobs ↓
Oak Ridge and Orlando trade workers both ways
Orlando is the top workplace for Oak Ridge residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Oak Ridge come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Oak Ridge
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oak Ridge is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #539 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Oak Ridge’s grade up (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (25.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oak Ridge could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Oak Ridge by day and by night
On a workday 10,699 residents head out to work, 269 work right here, and 9,391 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 (0.88 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.
26% of working residents work in Orlando
Where Oak Ridge clocks in
26% of workers
6% 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.
Commuting from Oak Ridge: about 31 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oak Ridge workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,426 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Florida: 83% 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.
Jobs in Oak Ridge: what the 9,660 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oak Ridge, 2013 → 2023: 8,009 → 9,660. 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 Oak Ridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Oak Ridge
About 20% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Oak Ridge
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oak Ridge is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns, #28 of 638 in Florida. Both inputs place Oak Ridge 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 11,994 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 26% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 81% 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). 15.5% of Oak Ridge households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Oak Ridge’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,780 U.S. towns of 16,000 to 32,000, Oak Ridge comes 1,544th 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Pinecrest FL | 18,635 | $206K | 4.3% | 3.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Lake Butler FL | 17,125 | $183K | 3.7% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Palm Valley FL | 19,796 | $117K | 4.2% | 1.2% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,542 | Chillicothe OH | 21,815 | $54K | 17.4% | 4.9% | 29% | C |
| 1,543 | Bristol TN | 28,107 | $58K | 13.6% | 6.8% | 26% | C |
| 1,544 | Oak Ridge FL | 23,364 | $55K | 25.3% | 7.9% | 2% | C |
| 1,545 | Cudahy CA | 21,445 | $57K | 28.7% | 10.1% | 3% | C |
| 1,546 | Terrytown LA | 24,726 | $52K | 19.2% | 8.4% | 4% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,780 | 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 Oak Ridge, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Oak Ridge and its neighbors: 26% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Orlando. Darker towns draw more of Oak Ridge’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 Oak Ridge: questions
What is the median household income in Oak Ridge?
$54,685 (±$4,214) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oak Ridge?
25.3%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oak Ridge?
31 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oak Ridge work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Orlando (26%, 6 mi), Lake Buena Vista (6%, 10 mi), Tampa (2%, 73 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oak Ridge walkable?
Oak Ridge is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.7 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oak Ridge without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. 26% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oak Ridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oak Ridge
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.