Abraham Byrd House · Photo: Maria573 · CC BY-SA 4.0Work, pay and getting to work in Oak Ridge
0% of workers have no commute at all (Missouri 13%). Hardly any work in Oak Ridge itself; outside it, Cape Girardeau draws the most (24%, 16 miles). Commuters spend 23 minutes getting to work on average, where Missouri has 24 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily commute in and out of Oak Ridge
On a workday 100 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 96 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.96 per resident).
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 Oak Ridge’s working residents head each day
Where Oak Ridge clocks in
24% of workers
10% 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.
Most jobs in Oak Ridge are in services
97 jobs are based in Oak Ridge.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oak Ridge, 2013 → 2023: 90 → 97. 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.
About 23 minutes each way for Oak Ridge’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oak Ridge workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 117 commuters (the 0% 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.
How far Oak Ridge goes to work
About 25% 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.
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 Ridge: questions
What is the median household income in Oak Ridge?
$71,458 (±$17,798) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oak Ridge?
4.7%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oak Ridge?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oak Ridge work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cape Girardeau (24%, 16 mi), Jackson (11%, 9 mi), Perryville (10%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Oak Ridge without a car?
0% 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 Oak Ridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oak Ridge
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.