Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Cherokee earn less than those in 76% of U.S. towns
Cherokee grades D− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. The poverty rate is 22.2%, where Oklahoma as a whole has 15.3%. About one in four work in Cherokee itself; outside it, Oklahoma City draws the most (12%, 100 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Cherokee, in a few figures
Cherokee’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Cherokee is Oklahoma City, 100 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (86) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
50% 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 ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Cherokee than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Cherokee fell from 900 in 2013 to 679 in 2023, −25%. 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 ↓
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; with 747 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Cherokee
On income, poverty and job access, Cherokee is better than 5% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Cherokee’s grade up ($58,860, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 3% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (6.1%) is left out: Cherokee’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Cherokee could be anywhere from D− to C−.
How many miles Cherokee commutes
About 50% 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 679 jobs based in Cherokee
679 jobs are based in Cherokee.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cherokee, 2013 → 2023: 900 → 679. 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 Cherokee’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Cherokee
On a workday 559 residents head out to work, 188 work right here, and 491 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 (0.91 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.
Out of Cherokee to work: where people go
Where Cherokee clocks in
12% 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.
About 22 minutes each way, about the OK average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cherokee workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 657 commuters (the 5% 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.
Most of Cherokee commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cherokee is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Cherokee 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 688 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). 3.5% of Cherokee households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cherokee’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Cherokee compares with U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Forest Park OK | 1,035 | $104K | 0.4% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 812 | Justice OK | 1,530 | $98K | 7.5% | 2.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,417 | Oologah OK | 1,358 | $80K | 9.4% | 7.6% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,336 | Bloomfield MO | 1,734 | $42K | 25.1% | 7.4% | 5% | D− |
| 5,337 | Santa Clara NM | 1,592 | $58K | 23.4% | 6.2% | 6% | D− |
| 5,338 | Cherokee OK | 1,439 | $59K | 22.2% | 6.1% | 25% | D− |
| 5,339 | Greenwood Township MI | 1,132 | $55K | 20.7% | 12.0% | <1% | D− |
| 5,340 | Paxton Township OH | 1,869 | $46K | 18.6% | 7.2% | 5% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Cherokee, 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 Cherokee: questions
What is the median household income in Cherokee?
$58,860 (±$9,969) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cherokee?
22.2%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cherokee?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cherokee work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oklahoma City (12%, 100 mi), Alva (7%, 17 mi), Enid (5%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cherokee walkable?
Cherokee is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cherokee without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cherokee, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cherokee
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.