Photo: Johnrozsa · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Oak Park (10.8%) than in 96% of U.S. towns
23% of workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Oak Park grades C+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Only 3% work in Oak Park itself; outside it, Detroit draws the most (18%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Oak Park stands out on work
Oak Park and Detroit trade workers both ways
Detroit is the top workplace for Oak Park residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Oak Park come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A lot of Oak Park works from home
23% of Oak Park workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Time on the road ↓
Oak Park draws workers from far and wide
The 7,065 jobs in Oak Park are filled from a wide area. Oak Park’s own residents hold 5% and the ten next-biggest home towns 39%; the other 56% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2021, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; 2021 is the newest year Michigan has published.
Where Oak Park’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oak Park is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #439 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Oak Park’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down.
The commuting and job counts on this page are Census LEHD 2021: Michigan reports later than other states, so its newest year is two years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oak Park could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
Where people from Oak Park work
Where Oak Park clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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.
About 23 minutes each way, about the MI average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oak Park workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,094 commuters (the 23% who work from home are left out). Across Michigan: 86% 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.
In and out of Oak Park on a workday
On a workday 11,428 residents head out to work, 350 work right here, and 6,715 people come in from elsewhere.
About 24,000 people are in Oak Park on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.60 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
What the 7,065 jobs in Oak Park are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oak Park, 2011 → 2021: 8,631 → 7,065. 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 2021.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oak Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Oak Park’s commute, mile by mile
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2021.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Oak Park walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oak Park is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns, #131 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.8% across Michigan.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 14,445 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 16% 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 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 69% 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). 8.8% of Oak Park households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Oak Park’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Oak Park is 1,065th of 1,467 U.S. towns of 20,000 to 39,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Northville Township MI | 31,399 | $151K | 3.1% | 2.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Oakland Township MI | 20,631 | $167K | 2.7% | 3.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Cascade Township MI | 20,201 | $136K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,063 | Gillette WY | 34,024 | $81K | 9.8% | 4.6% | 55% | C+ |
| 1,064 | Florida Ridge FL | 20,889 | $67K | 11.3% | 3.5% | 6% | C+ |
| 1,065 | Oak Park MI | 29,072 | $72K | 12.0% | 10.8% | 3% | C+ |
| 1,066 | Panama City Beach FL | 20,375 | $81K | 10.0% | 5.0% | 25% | C+ |
| 1,067 | Port St. John FL | 25,120 | $88K | 9.9% | 6.3% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,467 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Park, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Next door to Oak Park
The biggest share goes to Southfield (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oak Park workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Park | – | C+ | B+ | 23 min | $71,510 |
| Ferndale | under 3% | A− | A− | 23 min | $94,640 |
| Southfield | 9% | B− | A− | 24 min | $68,166 |
| Huntington Woods | under 3% | A+ | A− | 21 min | $190,150 |
| Royal Oak Township | under 3% | C− | A | 24 min | $47,679 |
| Berkley | under 3% | A+ | B+ | 22 min | $116,239 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Oak Park’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 2021, 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 Park: questions
What is the median household income in Oak Park?
$71,510 (±$5,543) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oak Park?
12.0%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oak Park?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oak Park work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Detroit (18%, 7 mi), Southfield (9%, 4 mi), Troy (7%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Oak Park walkable?
Oak Park is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oak Park without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oak Park, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oak Park
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, 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.