With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Three Oaks works elsewhere
Employers in Three Oaks report 373 jobs; 2,991 of its residents have a job. Three Oaks grades B+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Measured by household income, Three Oaks is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Three Oaks stands out on work
Three Oaks is a place people come home to
There are 373 jobs based in Three Oaks, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Three Oaks has about 3,500 people in it, 43% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Three Oaks
64% of Three Oaks residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 40% of the jobs based in Three Oaks pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 98% leave town for their job. 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.
Why Three Oaks gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Three Oaks is better than 71% of U.S. towns, #167 of 638 in Florida. Household income holds Three Oaks’ grade up ($107,417, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Three Oaks could be anywhere from B− to A+.
Three Oaks quiets down on a workday
On a workday 2,941 residents head out to work, 50 work right here, and 323 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,500 people are in Three Oaks on a workday afternoon, 43% fewer than live here.
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 Three Oaks’ employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Three Oaks, 2013 → 2023: 187 → 373. 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 Three Oaks’s own residents hold wherever they work.
12% of working residents work in Fort Myers
Where Three Oaks clocks in
12% of workers
7% 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 Three Oaks, about 26 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Three Oaks workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,424 commuters (the 12% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Three Oaks
About 18% 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: Three Oaks
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Three Oaks is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns, #263 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.6% across Florida.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,869 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, 100% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 53% 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). 1.8% of Three Oaks households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Three Oaks’ commuters take a bus or train.
Three Oaks places 1,131st of 3,370 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Southwest Ranches FL | 7,773 | $161K | 3.8% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 176 | Neptune Beach FL | 7,020 | $119K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,129 | Godley TX | 5,093 | $110K | 7.6% | 5.2% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,130 | Hopewell Township NJ | 4,517 | $100K | 4.3% | 4.9% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,131 | Three Oaks FL | 6,144 | $107K | 8.6% | 4.6% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,132 | Chesterland OH | 7,086 | $108K | 9.8% | 4.8% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,133 | Willard MO | 6,904 | $85K | 9.7% | 2.3% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,370 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Three Oaks, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
10% of Three Oaks works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Estero (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Three Oaks workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three Oaks | – | B+ | A− | 26 min | $107,417 |
| San Carlos Park | 3% | B+ | B− | 28 min | $85,952 |
| Estero | 7% | A− | B | 26 min | $104,102 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Three Oaks’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 Three Oaks: questions
What is the median household income in Three Oaks?
$107,417 (±$17,679) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Three Oaks?
8.6%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Three Oaks?
26 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Three Oaks work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Myers (12%, 10 mi), Estero (7%, 3 mi), Bonita Springs (7%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Three Oaks walkable?
Three Oaks is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Three Oaks without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 100% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Three Oaks, from the people who make the trip.
More of Three Oaks
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.