Photo: Photo by and ©2006 Dustin M. Ramsey (Kralizec!) · CC BY-SA 2.5Oak Harbor has lower household incomes than 92% of U.S. towns
5.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 13.3% across Ohio. The two grades for Oak Harbor are B for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in ten work in Oak Harbor itself; outside it, Port Clinton draws the most (9%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Oak Harbor: the figures worth knowing
Oak Harbor workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 23 across Ohio. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Oak Harbor
55% of Oak Harbor residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 36% of the jobs based in Oak Harbor pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 90% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Oak Harbor pay little
28% of the jobs based in Oak Harbor pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Oak Harbor
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oak Harbor is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #539 of 992 in Ohio. Unemployment holds Oak Harbor’s grade up (2.1%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($46,211, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oak Harbor could be anywhere from C to A−.
About 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Ohio
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 Harbor workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,013 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 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.
What the 707 jobs in Oak Harbor are
707 jobs are based in Oak Harbor.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oak Harbor, 2013 → 2023: 835 → 707. 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 Harbor’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Oak Harbor quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,184 residents head out to work, 133 work right here, and 574 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Oak Harbor on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.54 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.
The places Oak Harbor commutes to
Where Oak Harbor clocks in
9% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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 many miles Oak Harbor commutes
About 20% 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.
The commute in Oak Harbor is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oak Harbor is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns, #534 of 993 in Ohio. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.7% across Ohio.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,142 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). 5.5% of Oak Harbor households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Oak Harbor’s commuters take a bus or train.
Oak Harbor is 2,033rd of 5,131 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,800 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Jersey Township OH | 2,678 | $136K | 2.4% | 1.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Silver Lake OH | 2,504 | $140K | 2.9% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Evendale OH | 2,657 | $149K | 1.5% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,031 | North Sarasota FL | 2,824 | $85K | 8.1% | 7.3% | 1% | B |
| 2,032 | Winsted MN | 2,209 | $67K | 11.3% | 0.8% | 12% | B |
| 2,033 | Oak Harbor OH | 2,780 | $46K | 5.7% | 2.1% | 10% | B |
| 2,034 | Manito Township IL | 2,146 | $69K | 7.8% | 2.3% | 24% | B |
| 2,035 | Washington Township IN | 2,342 | $93K | 7.5% | 3.2% | 2% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,131 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Harbor, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
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 Harbor: questions
What is the median household income in Oak Harbor?
$46,211 (±$12,075) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oak Harbor?
5.7%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oak Harbor?
29 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oak Harbor work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Port Clinton (9%, 10 mi), Toledo (7%, 26 mi), Fremont (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oak Harbor walkable?
Oak Harbor is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oak Harbor without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oak Harbor, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oak Harbor
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.