Photo: David Marshall · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Dewey trail those of 94% of U.S. towns
The trip to work takes 22 minutes on average; Oklahoma averages 22, the U.S. 26. 23.0% of residents live below the poverty line, where Oklahoma as a whole has 15.3%. Jobs and income earn Dewey D; getting around on foot earns it C.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Dewey, in a few figures
Dewey and Bartlesville trade workers both ways
Bartlesville is the top workplace for Dewey residents (37%) and also where the most people who work in Dewey come from (37% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Dewey than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Dewey fell from 1,000 in 2013 to 697 in 2023, −30%. 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.
Jobs & income in Dewey: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dewey is better than 13% of U.S. towns, #89 of 131 in Oklahoma. Unemployment holds Dewey’s grade up (4.7%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($42,695, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dewey could be anywhere from D− to C+.
37% of working residents work in Bartlesville
Where Dewey clocks in
37% of workers
12% of workers
3% 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.
Inside Dewey’s 697 jobs
697 jobs are based in Dewey.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dewey, 2013 → 2023: 1,000 → 697. 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 Dewey’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Dewey by day and by night
On a workday 1,228 residents head out to work, 101 work right here, and 596 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,800 people are in Dewey on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.52 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
A commute of about 22 minutes in Dewey
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dewey workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,221 commuters (the 7% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Dewey
About 23% 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.
Most trips from Dewey start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dewey is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns, #116 of 131 in Oklahoma. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.5% across Oklahoma.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,311 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). 2.2% of Dewey households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dewey’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,535 U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,700, Dewey comes 3,984th 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Nichols Hills OK | 3,864 | $208K | 2.8% | 0.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,005 | Goldsby OK | 3,591 | $103K | 11.2% | 2.4% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,735 | Jones OK | 3,222 | $77K | 15.2% | 2.5% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,982 | Tama IA | 3,011 | $69K | 24.0% | 7.5% | 16% | D |
| 3,983 | Sebring OH | 4,065 | $50K | 20.3% | 12.2% | 15% | D |
| 3,984 | Dewey OK | 3,450 | $43K | 23.0% | 4.7% | 8% | D |
| 3,985 | Daingerfield TX | 2,539 | $58K | 17.5% | 7.1% | 13% | D |
| 3,986 | Stanley WI | 3,876 | $48K | 20.0% | 5.0% | 10% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,535 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Dewey, the top three, the last and three more from Oklahoma.
Dewey and its neighbors: 37% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dewey workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dewey | – | D | C | 22 min | $42,695 |
| Bartlesville | 37% | C | B+ | 18 min | $58,869 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Bartlesville. Darker towns draw more of Dewey’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Dewey: questions
What is the median household income in Dewey?
$42,695 (±$8,164) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dewey?
23.0%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dewey?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dewey work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bartlesville (37%, 4 mi), Tulsa (12%, 46 mi), Oklahoma City (3%, 127 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dewey walkable?
Dewey is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dewey 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 Dewey, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dewey
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.