Photo: Larry D. Moore This photo was taken with Samsung Galaxy S4 · CC BY 4.0Households in Atoka earn less than those in 93% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Atoka; the top destination outside it is Durant (13%, 31 miles). 17.3% of residents live below the poverty line, against 15.3% across Oklahoma. The two grades for Atoka are C− for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Atoka, in brief
Atoka’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Atoka is Durant, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (161) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Atoka gains people on a workday
About 3,600 people are in Atoka on a workday afternoon, 20% more than the 3,000 who live here: 1,500 come in to work and 920 head out. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Atoka workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Atoka’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
Atoka’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Atoka is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #69 of 131 in Oklahoma. Unemployment holds Atoka’s grade up (2.3%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($44,087, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Atoka could be anywhere from D to C+.
How far Atoka goes to work
About 33% 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.
How many people are in Atoka by day
On a workday 923 residents head out to work, 334 work right here, and 1,516 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,600 people are in Atoka on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 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.
What Atoka’s employers do
1,850 jobs are based in Atoka.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Atoka, 2013 → 2023: 2,035 → 1,850. 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 Atoka’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The places Atoka commutes to
Where Atoka clocks in
13% of workers
8% of workers
2% 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.
About 23 minutes each way for Atoka’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Atoka workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,050 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.
Atoka is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Atoka is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #3 of 131 in Oklahoma. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.5% across Oklahoma, on an EPA index of 8.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,125 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). 16.5% of Atoka households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Atoka’s commuters take a bus or train.
3,580th of 4,618: where Atoka ranks among U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000
| # | 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Nichols Hills OK | 3,864 | $208K | 2.8% | 0.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 944 | Goldsby OK | 3,591 | $103K | 11.2% | 2.4% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,272 | Kiefer OK | 2,310 | $83K | 10.4% | 3.0% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,578 | Mauriceville TX | 2,945 | $64K | 13.5% | 10.5% | 2% | C− |
| 3,579 | Whitesboro NY | 3,559 | $46K | 22.8% | 5.5% | 5% | C− |
| 3,580 | Atoka OK | 2,975 | $44K | 17.3% | 2.3% | 27% | C− |
| 3,581 | Yorkshire NY | 3,733 | $48K | 19.0% | 2.5% | 8% | C− |
| 3,582 | Morgan Township OH | 2,262 | $47K | 17.9% | 2.5% | 23% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | 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 Atoka, the top three, the last and three more from Oklahoma.
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 Atoka: questions
What is the median household income in Atoka?
$44,087 (±$7,235) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Atoka?
17.3%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Atoka?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Atoka work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Durant (13%, 31 mi), Oklahoma City (8%, 108 mi), Ardmore (2%, 59 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Atoka walkable?
Atoka is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Atoka without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Atoka, from the people who make the trip.
More of Atoka
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.