Photo: Gargiulo · Public domainHousehold incomes in Three Oaks trail those of 63% of U.S. towns
Only 7% work in Three Oaks itself; outside it, Three Oaks Township draws the most (9%, 0 miles). 9.1% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 13.2% for Michigan as a whole. For jobs and income Three Oaks is better than 47% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Three Oaks
Stores, warehouses and trucking
56% of the jobs in Three Oaks are in trade, transport and utilities, against 18% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Three Oaks are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. Time on the road ↓
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; with 585 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Three Oaks’ Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Three Oaks’ grade up; household income pulls it down ($66,985, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
Unemployment (5.2%) is left out: Three Oaks’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
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 and poverty, Three Oaks could be anywhere from C to B+.
Jobs in Three Oaks: what the 435 are
435 jobs are based in Three Oaks.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Three Oaks, 2011 → 2021: 449 → 435. 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 Three Oaks’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 19 minutes each way for Three Oaks’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Three Oaks workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 663 commuters (the 15% 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 Three Oaks on a workday
On a workday 544 residents head out to work, 41 work right here, and 394 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Three Oaks on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.74 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.
Where the trip to work from Three Oaks ends
Where Three Oaks clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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.
How far Three Oaks goes to work
About 29% 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 2021.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Three Oaks is mostly behind the wheel
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 5.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 782 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). 4.9% of Three Oaks households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Three Oaks’ commuters take a bus or train.
Three Oaks next to U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900: 2,252nd of 5,877 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 152 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 187 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,250 | Auburn Township PA | 1,737 | $89K | 6.4% | 4.5% | 4% | B− |
| 2,251 | Koontz Lake IN | 1,182 | $81K | 11.0% | 8.2% | 1% | B− |
| 2,252 | Three Oaks MI | 1,390 | $67K | 9.1% | 5.2% | 7% | B− |
| 2,253 | Hemby Bridge NC | 1,764 | $72K | 19.8% | 2.1% | 1% | B− |
| 2,254 | Amity OR | 1,782 | $87K | 16.7% | 3.8% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Three Oaks, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
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 Three Oaks: questions
What is the median household income in Three Oaks?
$66,985 (±$7,104) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Three Oaks?
9.1%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Three Oaks?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Three Oaks work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Three Oaks Township (9%, 0 mi), New Buffalo (7%, 7 mi), New Buffalo Township (7%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Three Oaks walkable?
Three Oaks is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Three Oaks 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 Three Oaks, from the people who make the trip.
More of Three Oaks
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.