Ellis County Courthouse · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Arnett at work: jobs, income and the commute
A typical one-way commute from Arnett lasts 24 minutes (Oklahoma 22, U.S. 26). About one in seven stay in Arnett for work; outside it, Shattuck is the main destination (8%, 11 miles). There are 217 jobs in Arnett; 228 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Arnett apart on work
How far it is to work from Arnett
About 63% 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 daily flow of workers through Arnett
On a workday 199 residents head out to work, 29 work right here, and 188 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 (0.95 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 the trip to work from Arnett ends
Where Arnett clocks in
8% 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.
What Arnett’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arnett, 2013 → 2023: 251 → 217. 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 Arnett’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Arnett: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arnett workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 206 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Oklahoma: 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.
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 Arnett: questions
What is the median household income in Arnett?
$54,688 (±$29,036) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arnett?
24.0%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Arnett?
24 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Arnett work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Shattuck (8%, 11 mi), Oklahoma City (8%, 135 mi), Woodward (6%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Arnett 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 Arnett, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arnett
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.