Brandville School · Photo: Maherite1977 · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Oregon (3.1%) is lower than in 68% of U.S. towns
5% of workers work from home (Ohio 13%). For jobs and income Oregon is better than 73% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (B). About one in seven work in Oregon itself; outside it, Toledo draws the most (34%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Oregon
Oregon trades workers with the towns around it
Oregon has about as many jobs (7,929) as working residents (9,383), but they are mostly different people: 8,092 residents leave for work each day while 6,638 people come in. Only 16% of the jobs in Oregon are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Oregon works one town over
38% of working residents work in a town that borders Oregon: Toledo (34%) and Northwood (4%). Next door ↓
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 Oregon
Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 77% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (8.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oregon could be anywhere from B to A.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 8,092 residents head out to work, 1,291 work right here, and 6,638 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 (0.85 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 people from Oregon work
Where Oregon clocks in
34% of workers
5% 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.
What Oregon’s employers do
7,929 jobs are based in Oregon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oregon, 2013 → 2023: 9,899 → 7,929. 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 Oregon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Oregon: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oregon workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,213 commuters (the 5% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Oregon
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.
For most of Oregon, work means a drive
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% 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 9,656 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 10% 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 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 42% 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). 5.8% of Oregon households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Oregon’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Oregon ranks: 794th of 1,860 U.S. towns of 14,000 to 27,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Powell OH | 18,269 | $195K | 1.1% | 2.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Hudson OH | 23,085 | $171K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Avon OH | 25,611 | $136K | 3.0% | 1.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 792 | East Pennsboro Township PA | 21,658 | $83K | 5.5% | 4.7% | 9% | B+ |
| 793 | South Ogden UT | 17,710 | $80K | 8.6% | 2.6% | 6% | B+ |
| 794 | Oregon OH | 19,674 | $82K | 8.5% | 3.1% | 14% | B+ |
| 795 | North Augusta SC | 26,982 | $86K | 6.6% | 3.8% | 9% | B+ |
| 796 | Goshen NY | 14,525 | $121K | 3.8% | 7.1% | 17% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,860 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Oregon, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
The towns next door employ 38% of Oregon
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oregon workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon | – | B+ | B | 20 min | $82,197 |
| Washington Township | under 2% | A | B− | 20 min | $71,054 |
| Toledo | 34% | C− | A | 20 min | $49,724 |
| Jerusalem Township | under 2% | B+ | D | 32 min | $92,589 |
| Northwood | 4% | B+ | C− | 20 min | $77,268 |
| Harbor View | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Curtice | under 2% | A | D− | 26 min | $104,226 |
| Allen Township | under 2% | A | C− | 24 min | $114,677 |
Same-state neighbors only. Harbor View: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Toledo. Darker towns draw more of Oregon’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 Oregon: questions
What is the median household income in Oregon?
$82,197 (±$4,972) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oregon?
8.5%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oregon?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oregon work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Toledo (34%, 7 mi), Perrysburg Township (5%, 11 mi), Northwood (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oregon walkable?
Oregon is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oregon without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oregon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oregon
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.