Photo: w:en:Bencochran · CC BY-SA 2.5Cushing has lower household incomes than 93% of U.S. towns
Cushing grades D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. The poverty rate is 22.0% (Oklahoma 15.3%). About one in four work in Cushing itself; outside it, Stillwater draws the most (12%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Cushing
Cushing trades workers with the towns around it
Cushing has about as many jobs (2,892) as working residents (3,269), but they are mostly different people: 2,487 residents leave for work each day while 2,110 people come in. Only 27% of the jobs in Cushing are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
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.
Cushing’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cushing is better than 8% of U.S. towns, #106 of 131 in Oklahoma. Unemployment holds Cushing’s grade up (5.6%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($44,136, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cushing could be anywhere from D− to C−.
The workday shuffle in and out of Cushing
On a workday 2,487 residents head out to work, 782 work right here, and 2,110 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 (0.88 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.
Miles to work from Cushing
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 places Cushing commutes to
Where Cushing clocks in
12% of workers
10% of workers
7% 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 Cushing: what the 2,892 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cushing, 2013 → 2023: 3,215 → 2,892. 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 Cushing’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 19 minutes from Cushing
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cushing workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,356 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.
In Cushing, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cushing is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #41 of 131 in Oklahoma. Both inputs place Cushing 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 3,508 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). 7.1% of Cushing households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Cushing’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 5,900 to 11,300, and where Cushing sits
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 470 | Piedmont OK | 9,427 | $104K | 2.6% | 3.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 910 | Tuttle OK | 8,708 | $104K | 5.3% | 4.8% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,021 | Noble OK | 7,748 | $82K | 10.8% | 1.2% | 10% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,822 | West Hattiesburg MS | 6,715 | $39K | 38.5% | 11.4% | 1% | D |
| 2,823 | Peru IN | 10,962 | $46K | 23.6% | 9.1% | 25% | D |
| 2,824 | Cushing OK | 8,390 | $44K | 22.0% | 5.6% | 24% | D |
| 2,825 | Pulaski TN | 8,394 | $49K | 25.7% | 7.2% | 34% | D |
| 2,826 | Covington TN | 8,585 | $42K | 29.2% | 8.8% | 31% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,947 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Cushing, 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 Cushing: questions
What is the median household income in Cushing?
$44,136 (±$5,212) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cushing?
22.0%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cushing?
19 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cushing work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Stillwater (12%, 20 mi), Oklahoma City (10%, 55 mi), Tulsa (7%, 49 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cushing walkable?
Cushing is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cushing without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cushing, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cushing
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.