Jobs and the daily commute in Oakboro
The average commute takes 33 minutes each way, next to 25 for North Carolina and 26 for the U.S. Oakboro grades B for jobs and income and D for walkability. Only 5% work in Oakboro itself; outside it, Charlotte draws the most (23%, 28 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Oakboro: the gist
Oakboro’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Oakboro is Charlotte, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 23% of working residents (270) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Oakboro workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 25 across North Carolina. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Oakboro makes and builds things
44% of the jobs based in Oakboro are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Oakboro residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 25%. The jobs ↓
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 Oakboro gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oakboro is better than 56% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Oakboro’s grade up (5.5%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($69,100, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oakboro could be anywhere from C− to A.
Miles to work from Oakboro
About 16% 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.
About 33 minutes each way, longer than most of North Carolina
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oakboro workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,150 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across North Carolina: 85% 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.
Goods, not services: 44% of the jobs in Oakboro
717 jobs are based in Oakboro.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oakboro, 2013 → 2023: 833 → 717. 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 Oakboro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Oakboro, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,103 residents head out to work, 53 work right here, and 664 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Oakboro on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.62 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where people from Oakboro work
Where Oakboro clocks in
23% of workers
10% 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.
In Oakboro, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oakboro is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.9% across North Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,306 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). 3.9% of Oakboro households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Oakboro’s commuters take a bus or train.
Oakboro next to U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100: 1,974th of 5,328 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 157 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,972 | Harrison Township OH | 2,053 | $69K | 5.0% | 5.3% | 5% | B |
| 1,973 | Clay Township PA | 2,473 | $84K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 7% | B |
| 1,974 | Oakboro NC | 2,316 | $69K | 5.5% | 4.0% | 5% | B |
| 1,975 | Three Way TN | 1,933 | $88K | 6.4% | 7.0% | 1% | B |
| 1,976 | Sonora TX | 2,373 | $72K | 5.4% | 1.7% | 29% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Oakboro, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
How Oakboro compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oakboro workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakboro | – | B | D | 33 min | $69,100 |
| Red Cross | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Red Cross: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Oakboro’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 Oakboro: questions
What is the median household income in Oakboro?
$69,100 (±$15,440) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oakboro?
5.5%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oakboro?
33 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oakboro work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlotte (23%, 28 mi), Albemarle (10%, 12 mi), Concord (7%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oakboro walkable?
Oakboro is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oakboro without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oakboro, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oakboro
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.