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Jobs & commute in Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge has 1.9 jobs for every working resident: 65 people commute in to work

Hardly any work in Oak Ridge; the top destination outside it is Bastrop (14%, 13 miles). Oak Ridge has 65 jobs; 35 of its residents have a job. The trip to work takes 51 minutes on average, where Louisiana has 26 and the U.S. 26.

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

Day and night

In and out of Oak Ridge on a workday

On a workday 35 residents head out to work and none work right here.

35live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
65work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night110
Workday140
110live here− 35head out to work+ 65come in to work= 140on a workday

About 140 people are in Oak Ridge on a workday afternoon, 27% more than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
1.86jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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 commute map

Where Oak Ridge’s workers come from

HamburgOak RidgeHarrisonburgCollinston: 1 workers live here (2%)Mer Rouge: 3 workers live here (5%)Bonita: 1 workers live here (2%)Oak Grove: 1 workers live here (2%)RayvilleBunkieHomerHaughton: 1 workers live here (2%)Thibodaux: 1 workers live here (2%)West Monroe: 2 workers live here (3%)Bastrop: 5 workers live here (8%)YoungsvilleRustonMonroe: 1 workers live here (2%)LafayetteVicksburg: 1 workers live here (2%)BastropMer RougeWest MonroeCollinstonBonitaOak GroveOak Ridge
1
Bastrop13 mi away
8%5
2
Mer Rouge10.6 mi away
5%3
3
West Monroe23.4 mi away
3%2
4
Collinston7.3 mi away
2%1
5
Bonita21.2 mi away
2%1
6
Oak Grove27.6 mi away
2%1
7
Haughton101 mi away
2%1
8
Thibodaux203.5 mi away
2%1
9
Monroe19.1 mi away
2%1
10
Vicksburg, MS56 mi away
2%1
Everywhere elseother towns and states
74%48
The top trips

Where Oak Ridge clocks in

Lines 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.

The jobs

Goods jobs make up 54% of work in Oak Ridge

Jobs based in Oak RidgeJobs Oak Ridge residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms54%26%
Trade, transport & utilities0%17%
Services: health, schools, offices46%57%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less12%20%
$1,251–$3,333 a month49%29%
Over $3,333 a month38%51%

Who does it

29 or younger15%14%
30 to 5442%66%
55 and older43%20%
−16%

Jobs based in Oak Ridge, 2013 → 2023: 77 → 65. 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.

Time on the road

Getting to work from Oak Ridge takes about 51 minutes

A year of commuting
393 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 16.4 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Oak Ridge51 min
Louisiana26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
11%

of Oak Ridge workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
How Oak Ridge gets to work
96%Drive alone
4%Other

Share of the 24 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across Louisiana: 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.

How far

The commute from Oak Ridge, by distance

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miBastrop: 14% · 13 miMonroe: 11% · 19.1 miLafayette: 9% · 167.7 miHomer: 6% · 75.7 miHamburg: 3% · 41.5 miHarrisonburg: 3% · 59.2 miRayville: 3% · 10.6 miBunkie: 3% · 118 miYoungsville: 3% · 175.2 miRuston: 3% · 50.6 miBastrop 14%Monroe 11%Lafayette 9%Homer 6%Hamburg 3%Oak Ridge
Oak RidgeTop destinations (size = commuters)
6%Under 10 mi2 residents
37%10–24 mi13 residents
9%25–50 mi3 residents
49%Over 50 mi17 residents

About 49% 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.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Oak Ridge: questions

What is the median household income in Oak Ridge?

$108,438 (±$88,035) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Oak Ridge?

4.8%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Oak Ridge?

51 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Oak Ridge work?

0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bastrop (14%, 13 mi), Monroe (11%, 19 mi), Lafayette (9%, 168 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Can you get around Oak Ridge without a car?

0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Oak Ridge, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge home →

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.