Bank of Oberlin · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Households in Oberlin have lower incomes than those in 85% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 11.5% of residents, against 11.3% across Kansas. The two grades for Oberlin are D for jobs and income and A for walkability. About one in three stay in Oberlin for work; outside it, Liberty Township is the main destination (7%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Oberlin, in brief
Commutes from Oberlin are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 20 across Kansas. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kansas worker. Time on the road ↓
Oberlin’s workforce skews older
40% of Oberlin’s working residents are 55 or older. That’s about two in five. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% 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 ↓
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 706 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Oberlin
On income, poverty and job access, Oberlin is better than 11% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Oberlin’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 4% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.5%) is left out: Oberlin’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Oberlin could be anywhere from D− to C.
Oberlin’s commute takes about 12 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oberlin workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 631 commuters (the 19% who work from home are left out). Across Kansas: 85% 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.
Inside Oberlin’s 590 jobs
590 jobs are based in Oberlin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oberlin, 2013 → 2023: 686 → 590. 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 Oberlin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Oberlin
About 30% 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.
Who commutes out of Oberlin, and who commutes in
On a workday 446 residents head out to work, 260 work right here, and 330 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 (0.84 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.
The places Oberlin commutes to
Where Oberlin clocks in
6% of workers
4% 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.
Oberlin is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oberlin is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across Kansas, on an EPA index of 8.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 780 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). 4.6% of Oberlin households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Oberlin’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Oberlin is 5,073rd of 6,161 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Oxford Township KS | 2,058 | $163K | 1.9% | 2.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Lexington Township KS | 1,512 | $135K | 0.0% | 2.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Westwood KS | 1,720 | $118K | 1.9% | 2.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,071 | Crossville AL | 1,851 | $49K | 21.1% | 3.8% | 7% | D |
| 5,072 | Zolfo Springs FL | 1,754 | $61K | 32.0% | 5.0% | 3% | D |
| 5,073 | Oberlin KS | 1,606 | $52K | 11.5% | 2.5% | 37% | D |
| 5,074 | Ada MN | 1,712 | $64K | 16.8% | 7.2% | 38% | D |
| 5,075 | Canby MN | 1,674 | $58K | 14.9% | 6.7% | 39% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 6,161 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Oberlin, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
Oberlin and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oberlin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oberlin | – | D | A | 12 min | $52,284 |
| Liberty Township | 7% | — | — | — | — |
| Center Township | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Oberlin Township | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Liberty Township, Center Township and Oberlin Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Liberty Township. Darker towns draw more of Oberlin’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 Oberlin: questions
What is the median household income in Oberlin?
$52,284 (±$5,590) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oberlin?
11.5%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oberlin?
12 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oberlin work?
37% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Liberty Township (7%, 4 mi), McCook (6%, 27 mi), Norton (4%, 34 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oberlin walkable?
Oberlin is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oberlin without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oberlin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oberlin
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.