Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0Oglethorpe draws 445 commuters a day, with 2.1 jobs for every working resident
Oglethorpe has 454 jobs; 216 of its residents have a job. Only 4% stay in Oglethorpe for work; outside it, Montezuma is the main destination (6%, 3 miles). 0% of workers work from home, against 16% across Georgia.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Oglethorpe, in a few figures
A big share show a job far from home
40% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Few Oglethorpe workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 16% across Georgia. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Oglethorpe than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Oglethorpe fell from 636 in 2013 to 454 in 2023, −29%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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; with 216 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The distance from Oglethorpe to work
About 40% 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.
About 29 minutes each way, about the GA average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oglethorpe workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 255 commuters (the 0% who work from home are left out). Across Georgia: 84% 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.
The kinds of work in Oglethorpe
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oglethorpe, 2013 → 2023: 636 → 454. 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 Oglethorpe’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Oglethorpe by day
On a workday 207 residents head out to work and 9 work right here.
About 1,200 people are in Oglethorpe on a workday afternoon, 25% more 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.
Where the people who work in Oglethorpe live
Where Oglethorpe clocks in
6% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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 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 Oglethorpe: questions
What is the median household income in Oglethorpe?
$28,523 (±$7,990) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oglethorpe?
26.1%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oglethorpe?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oglethorpe work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Montezuma (6%, 3 mi), Macon-Bibb County (6%, 42 mi), Americus (6%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Oglethorpe without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 17% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oglethorpe, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oglethorpe
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.