Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 3.0Blackwell has lower household incomes than 83% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Blackwell; the top destination outside it is Ponca City (12%, 14 miles). Below the poverty line: 14.6% of residents (Oklahoma 15.3%). Blackwell grades C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Blackwell
Fewer jobs are based in Blackwell than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Blackwell fell from 2,070 in 2013 to 1,366 in 2023, −34%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Fewer than half of Blackwell workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Blackwell’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 17% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Blackwell
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Blackwell is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #77 of 131 in Oklahoma. Unemployment holds Blackwell’s grade up (4.3%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Blackwell could be anywhere from D to B−.
What Blackwell’s employers do
1,366 jobs are based in Blackwell.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Blackwell, 2013 → 2023: 2,070 → 1,366. 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 Blackwell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Blackwell, by distance
About 32% 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 commute in and out of Blackwell
On a workday 1,750 residents head out to work, 490 work right here, and 876 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,200 people are in Blackwell on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.61 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.
Out of Blackwell to work: where people go
Where Blackwell clocks in
12% of workers
11% 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.
Commuting from Blackwell: about 23 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Blackwell workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,575 commuters (the 4% 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.
Blackwell is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Blackwell is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #42 of 131 in Oklahoma. Both inputs place Blackwell near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,671 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). 4.9% of Blackwell households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Blackwell’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Blackwell is 2,888th among 3,394 U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 711 | Verdigris OK | 5,888 | $84K | 6.8% | 2.3% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,033 | Noble OK | 7,748 | $82K | 10.8% | 1.2% | 10% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,408 | Harrah OK | 7,212 | $84K | 10.8% | 3.3% | 7% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,886 | Dewey-Humboldt AZ | 4,604 | $67K | 7.9% | 9.9% | 3% | C− |
| 2,887 | Lyons GA | 4,260 | $42K | 33.5% | 2.8% | 17% | C− |
| 2,888 | Blackwell OK | 6,029 | $53K | 14.6% | 4.3% | 22% | C− |
| 2,889 | Waikoloa Village HI | 7,543 | $82K | 12.4% | 8.3% | 3% | C− |
| 2,890 | Reserve LA | 7,791 | $55K | 19.1% | 14.5% | 11% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,394 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Blackwell, 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 Blackwell: questions
What is the median household income in Blackwell?
$53,435 (±$5,072) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Blackwell?
14.6%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Blackwell?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Blackwell work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ponca City (12%, 14 mi), Oklahoma City (11%, 93 mi), Stillwater (5%, 48 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Blackwell walkable?
Blackwell is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Blackwell without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Blackwell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Blackwell
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.