Photo: Bernardgeorgeh · CC BY-SA 4.0At 9.5%, unemployment in Oak Grove is higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 89% of U.S. towns. The two grades for Oak Grove are D for jobs and income and C for walkability. About one in ten work in Oak Grove itself; outside it, Clarksville draws the most (20%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Oak Grove: the gist
Many of the people who work in Oak Grove live in another state
35% of the jobs in Oak Grove are held by people who live in Clarksville, TN, one of the top places its workers come from. The commute map ↓
A lot of Oak Grove workers cross into Tennessee
38% of Oak Grove workers work outside Kentucky, most of them in Tennessee, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Oak Grove trades workers with the towns around it
Oak Grove has about as many jobs (2,308) as working residents (1,955), but they are mostly different people: 1,753 residents leave for work each day while 2,106 people come in. Only 9% of the jobs in Oak Grove are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Jobs in Oak Grove have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Oak Grove went from 1,133 in 2013 to 2,308 in 2023, +104%. The jobs ↓
Oak Grove and Clarksville trade workers both ways
Clarksville is the top workplace for Oak Grove residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Oak Grove come from (35% 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Oak Grove’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oak Grove is better than 8% of U.S. towns, #125 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car holds Oak Grove’s grade up (ahead of 42% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oak Grove could be anywhere from D− to C.
The towns that employ Oak Grove’s residents
Where Oak Grove clocks in
20% of workers
20% 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.
Who commutes out of Oak Grove, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,753 residents head out to work, 202 work right here, and 2,106 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 (1.18 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 2,308 jobs based in Oak Grove
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oak Grove, 2013 → 2023: 1,133 → 2,308. 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 Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 24 minutes in Oak Grove
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oak Grove workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,156 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 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.
Half of Oak Grove commutes less than 14 miles
About 33% 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.
Most trips from Oak Grove start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oak Grove is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns, #103 of 142 in Kentucky. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 5.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,295 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). 4.7% of Oak Grove households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Oak Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Oak Grove sits among U.S. towns of 5,500 to 10,600
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Francisville KY | 10,565 | $159K | 1.7% | 1.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Union KY | 7,937 | $137K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 179 | Oakbrook KY | 10,211 | $95K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,877 | Hope AR | 8,445 | $38K | 23.4% | 6.0% | 29% | D |
| 2,878 | Oelwein IA | 5,757 | $47K | 18.5% | 7.6% | 33% | D |
| 2,879 | Oak Grove KY | 7,830 | $49K | 23.1% | 9.5% | 10% | D |
| 2,880 | Bay Minette AL | 8,555 | $45K | 24.4% | 7.2% | 18% | D |
| 2,881 | Camden AR | 10,127 | $49K | 20.5% | 6.8% | 32% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,026 | 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 Oak Grove, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
Oak Grove and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Fort Campbell North (1%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oak Grove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Grove | – | D | C | 24 min | $49,354 |
| Fort Campbell North | 1% | C− | A− | 10 min | $58,933 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Oak Grove’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 Grove: questions
What is the median household income in Oak Grove?
$49,354 (±$6,868) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oak Grove?
23.1%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oak Grove?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oak Grove work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Clarksville (20%, 9 mi), Hopkinsville (20%, 12 mi), Nashville (4%, 50 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oak Grove walkable?
Oak Grove is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oak Grove without a car?
1% 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 Oak Grove, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oak Grove
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.