With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Carter works elsewhere
Employers in Carter report 17 jobs, and 59 of its residents work somewhere. Only 3% work in Carter; the top destination outside it is Sayre (29%, 9 miles). Home is the office for 0% of workers, next to 9% for Oklahoma as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The workday shuffle in and out of Carter
On a workday 57 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 15 people come in from elsewhere.
About 140 people are in Carter on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The places Carter commutes to
Where Carter clocks in
15% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Carter
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carter, 2013 → 2023: 30 → 17. 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 Carter’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 24 minutes to work from Carter
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carter workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 99 commuters (the 0% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Carter
About 36% 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.
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 Carter: questions
What is the median household income in Carter?
$65,313 (±$23,320) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carter?
16.7%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carter?
24 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carter work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sayre (29%, 9 mi), Oklahoma City (15%, 114 mi), Elk City (10%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Carter 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 Carter, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carter
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.