Photo: TulGuy · CC BY 4.0Chouteau has lower household incomes than 74% of U.S. towns
8.3% of residents are in poverty, next to 15.3% for Oklahoma as a whole. Jobs and income earn Chouteau C+; getting around on foot earns it C−. Only 6% stay in Chouteau for work; outside it, Tulsa is the main destination (18%, 32 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Chouteau apart
Chouteau’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Chouteau is Tulsa, 32 miles away as the crow flies. 18% of working residents (133) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Chouteau than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Chouteau fell from 1,730 in 2013 to 725 in 2023, −58%. 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 754 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Chouteau: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Chouteau is better than 45% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Chouteau’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($60,208, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
Unemployment (8.3%) is left out: Chouteau’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, Chouteau could be anywhere from C− to B+.
How far Chouteau’s workers travel
About 16% 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.
Jobs in Chouteau: what the 725 are
725 jobs are based in Chouteau.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chouteau, 2013 → 2023: 1,730 → 725. 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 Chouteau’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Chouteau
On a workday 705 residents head out to work, 49 work right here, and 676 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 (0.96 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 Chouteau to work: where people go
Where Chouteau clocks in
18% of workers
12% 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.
The daily trip from Chouteau: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chouteau workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 797 commuters (the 8% 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.
Driving is how Chouteau gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chouteau is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Chouteau 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 866 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). 2.4% of Chouteau households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Chouteau’s commuters take a bus or train.
Chouteau is 2,555th of 5,404 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900 on jobs and income
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 970 | Justice OK | 1,530 | $98K | 7.5% | 2.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,261 | Kiefer OK | 2,310 | $83K | 10.4% | 3.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,262 | Union City OK | 2,129 | $106K | 11.5% | 2.9% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,553 | Center Township OH | 1,728 | $76K | 7.7% | 14.5% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,554 | Athens IL | 1,883 | $81K | 9.5% | 5.7% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,555 | Chouteau OK | 2,175 | $60K | 8.3% | 8.3% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,556 | Marcus Hook PA | 2,448 | $53K | 13.7% | 4.0% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,557 | Mound Township KS | 2,350 | $61K | 6.8% | 2.0% | 20% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Chouteau, 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 Chouteau: questions
What is the median household income in Chouteau?
$60,208 (±$19,576) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chouteau?
8.3%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chouteau?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chouteau work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tulsa (18%, 32 mi), Pryor Creek (12%, 8 mi), Broken Arrow (6%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chouteau walkable?
Chouteau is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chouteau without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chouteau, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chouteau
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.