Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Oakham has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
Employers in Oakham report 130 jobs, and 1,093 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Oakham are B+ for jobs and income and D for walkability. 10% of workers have no commute at all (Massachusetts 19%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Oakham and work: the main findings
Oakham is a place people come home to
There are 130 jobs based in Oakham, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Oakham has about 950 people in it, 50% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Oakham workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 39 minutes each way, against 29 across Massachusetts. Over a year that’s about 299 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 Oakham gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Oakham is better than 75% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Oakham’s grade up (4.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 36% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (2.5%) is left out: Oakham’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, Oakham could be anywhere from B to A−.
The workday shuffle in and out of Oakham
On a workday 1,052 residents head out to work, 41 work right here, and 89 people come in from elsewhere.
About 950 people are in Oakham on a workday afternoon, 50% 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.
Time on the road from Oakham: about 39 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oakham workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 723 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Massachusetts: 75% drive alone, 8% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
20% of working residents work in Worcester
Where Oakham clocks in
20% of workers
6% of workers
3% 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.
Oakham works in goods: 41% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oakham, 2013 → 2023: 168 → 130. 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 Oakham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Oakham
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.
Driving is how Oakham gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oakham is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Oakham near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 800 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 3.2% of Oakham households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Oakham’s commuters take a bus or train.
992nd of 5,921: where Oakham ranks among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 607 | Whately MA | 1,622 | $117K | 5.4% | 4.7% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 704 | Williamsburg MA | 2,445 | $105K | 2.3% | 3.7% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 732 | Otis MA | 1,610 | $109K | 1.2% | 6.2% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 990 | Cedar Heights MD | 2,213 | $77K | 6.2% | 4.6% | <1% | B+ |
| 991 | Justice OK | 1,530 | $98K | 7.5% | 2.7% | 1% | B+ |
| 992 | Oakham MA | 1,917 | $102K | 4.4% | 2.5% | 4% | B+ |
| 993 | Rubicon WI | 2,158 | $99K | 9.9% | 2.1% | 3% | B+ |
| 994 | Fort Valley AZ | 1,761 | $126K | 5.2% | 0.6% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | 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 Oakham, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
The towns around Oakham
The biggest share goes to Barre (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Oakham’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 Oakham: questions
What is the median household income in Oakham?
$102,000 (±$20,083) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oakham?
4.4%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oakham?
39 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oakham work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Worcester (20%, 13 mi), Boston (6%, 53 mi), Barre (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oakham walkable?
Oakham is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.8 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oakham without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oakham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oakham
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.