Photo: G. Edward Johnson · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Chelsea trail those of 87% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Chelsea D; getting around on foot earns it B+. 19.1% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 15.3% for Oklahoma as a whole. About one in seven stay in Chelsea for work; outside it, Tulsa is the main destination (17%, 38 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Chelsea in brief
Chelsea’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Chelsea is Tulsa, 38 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (123) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Chelsea workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 22 across Oklahoma. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 708 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Chelsea
On income, poverty and job access, Chelsea is better than 9% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Chelsea’s grade.
Unemployment (10.7%) is left out: Chelsea’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Chelsea stays D.
Chelsea’s commute, mile by mile
About 18% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Each way, about 30 minutes from Chelsea
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chelsea workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 745 commuters (the 6% 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.
How many people are in Chelsea by day
On a workday 599 residents head out to work, 109 work right here, and 444 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 (0.78 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where Chelsea goes to work
Where Chelsea clocks in
17% of workers
15% 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.
Jobs in Chelsea: what the 553 are
553 jobs are based in Chelsea.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chelsea, 2014 → 2024: 517 → 553. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chelsea’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most trips from Chelsea start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chelsea is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Chelsea 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 793 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). 6.0% of Chelsea households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Chelsea’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Chelsea is 4,728th among 5,509 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 955 | Justice OK | 1,530 | $98K | 7.5% | 2.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,251 | Kiefer OK | 2,310 | $83K | 10.4% | 3.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,252 | Union City OK | 2,129 | $106K | 11.5% | 2.9% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,726 | Townsend MT | 2,272 | $71K | 15.6% | 13.3% | 22% | D |
| 4,727 | Montour Falls NY | 1,498 | $51K | 23.7% | 14.7% | 9% | D |
| 4,728 | Chelsea OK | 1,999 | $51K | 19.1% | 10.7% | 15% | D |
| 4,729 | Fairplain Township MI | 1,892 | $56K | 17.9% | 1.4% | 1% | D |
| 4,730 | Bolivar NY | 1,985 | $59K | 17.3% | 5.9% | 10% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Chelsea, 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 2024, 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 Chelsea: questions
What is the median household income in Chelsea?
$50,875 (±$4,055) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chelsea?
19.1%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chelsea?
30 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chelsea work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tulsa (17%, 38 mi), Claremore (15%, 18 mi), Oklahoma City (6%, 138 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Chelsea walkable?
Chelsea is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chelsea 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 Chelsea, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chelsea
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.