Photo: Nyttend · Public domainOakwood draws 4,729 commuters a day, with 3.3 jobs for every working resident
4,777 jobs are based in Oakwood for 1,467 working residents. For jobs and income Oakwood is better than 44% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (C+). Only 3% stay in Oakwood for work; outside it, Cleveland is the main destination (25%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Oakwood, in brief
Oakwood has far more jobs than workers
Oakwood has 4,777 jobs, 3.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 6,700 people are in town, 96% more than the 3,400 who live here. Day and night ↓
Oakwood and Cleveland trade workers both ways
Cleveland is the top workplace for Oakwood residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Oakwood come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The four measures behind Oakwood’s grade
Job access by car holds Oakwood’s grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (21.0%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oakwood could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Who commutes out of Oakwood, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,419 residents head out to work and 48 work right here.
About 6,700 people are in Oakwood on a workday afternoon, 96% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The towns that send workers to Oakwood
Where Oakwood clocks in
25% of workers
8% of workers
3% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 28% of the jobs in Oakwood
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oakwood, 2014 → 2024: 4,106 → 4,777. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oakwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Oakwood takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oakwood workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,233 commuters (the 15% 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.
The distance from Oakwood to work
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Oakwood, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,452 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 42% 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 5.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 86% 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). 3.7% of Oakwood households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Oakwood’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Oakwood is 2,465th among 4,402 U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Jersey Township OH | 2,678 | $136K | 2.4% | 1.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Silver Lake OH | 2,504 | $140K | 2.9% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Evendale OH | 2,657 | $149K | 1.5% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,463 | Oaklawn-Sunview KS | 2,789 | $47K | 23.2% | 2.2% | <1% | C+ |
| 2,464 | Perry NY | 3,546 | $63K | 9.9% | 2.4% | 15% | C+ |
| 2,465 | Oakwood OH | 3,436 | $68K | 21.0% | 4.8% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,466 | Myerstown PA | 3,157 | $59K | 7.1% | 6.5% | 10% | C+ |
| 2,467 | Dodson Township OH | 2,587 | $70K | 8.9% | 3.6% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Oakwood, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Around Oakwood: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oakwood workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakwood | – | C+ | C+ | 19 min | $67,813 |
| Bedford | under 2% | C | A | 20 min | $57,308 |
| Bedford Heights | 3% | C+ | A | 24 min | $50,269 |
| Walton Hills | under 2% | A− | C− | 24 min | $106,055 |
| Macedonia | 2% | A | C | 26 min | $101,285 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Bedford Heights. Darker towns draw more of Oakwood’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 2024, 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 Oakwood: questions
What is the median household income in Oakwood?
$67,813 (±$13,806) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oakwood?
21.0%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oakwood?
19 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oakwood work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cleveland (25%, 12 mi), Solon (8%, 4 mi), Bedford Heights (3%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Oakwood walkable?
Oakwood is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oakwood without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oakwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oakwood
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.