Oak Grove has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Only 8% work in Oak Grove; the top destination outside it is Kansas City (22%, 24 miles). Employers in Oak Grove report 1,838 jobs, against 3,921 working residents. For jobs and income Oak Grove is better than 50% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Oak Grove
Oak Grove’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Oak Grove is Kansas City, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (853) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Oak Grove workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 24 across Missouri. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 38 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Oak Grove
Job access by car holds Oak Grove’s grade up (ahead of 71% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oak Grove could be anywhere from C to A−.
The commute from Oak Grove, by distance
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.
The trip to work from Oak Grove: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oak Grove workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,926 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Missouri: 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Oak Grove
On a workday 3,608 residents head out to work, 313 work right here, and 1,525 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,300 people are in Oak Grove on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
Where the trip to work from Oak Grove ends
Where Oak Grove clocks in
22% of workers
9% 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.
The kinds of work in Oak Grove
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oak Grove, 2013 → 2023: 2,129 → 1,838. 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.
For most of Oak Grove, work means a drive
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,163 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). 1.4% of Oak Grove households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Oak Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
Oak Grove next to U.S. towns of 6,600 to 12,600: 1,626th of 2,778 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,624 | Harrison Township IN | 9,017 | $62K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 28% | B− |
| 1,625 | Petal MS | 11,694 | $75K | 11.1% | 3.6% | 14% | B− |
| 1,626 | Oak Grove MO | 9,370 | $75K | 8.6% | 6.5% | 8% | B− |
| 1,627 | Clay AL | 10,198 | $82K | 17.3% | 4.6% | 1% | B− |
| 1,628 | Hiawatha IA | 7,432 | $66K | 13.7% | 4.0% | 10% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,778 | 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 Missouri.
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?
$75,102 (±$10,369) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oak Grove?
8.6%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oak Grove?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oak Grove work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kansas City (22%, 24 mi), Blue Springs (9%, 8 mi), Lee's Summit (9%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oak Grove walkable?
Oak Grove is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oak Grove without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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.