Elgin has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
For jobs and income Elgin is better than 36% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (C). Employers in Elgin report 330 jobs, and 1,204 of its residents work somewhere. Only 3% work in Elgin; the top destination outside it is Lawton (41%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Elgin
41% of Elgin works in Lawton
494 working residents, 41%, have their main job in Lawton, 14 miles away. That’s 14 times as many as work in Elgin itself. The commute map ↓
Elgin workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 22 across Oklahoma. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Elgin is a place people come home to
There are 330 jobs based in Elgin, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% 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 ↓
Many jobs in Elgin pay little
26% of the jobs based in Elgin pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 30% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. 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.
Inside Elgin’s Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Elgin’s grade up ($96,250, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (7.2%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Elgin could be anywhere from D to B+.
Where Elgin goes to work
Where Elgin clocks in
41% of workers
12% 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.
Commuting from Elgin: about 29 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elgin workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,343 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.
How a workday changes Elgin
On a workday 1,166 residents head out to work, 38 work right here, and 292 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,800 people are in Elgin on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where in the region Elgin works
About 34% 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 kinds of work in Elgin
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elgin, 2013 → 2023: 363 → 330. 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 Elgin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Elgin: mostly by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.3% of 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 1,447 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). 9.1% of Elgin households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Elgin’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,747th of 4,210: where Elgin ranks among U.S. towns of 2,600 to 4,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Nichols Hills OK | 3,864 | $208K | 2.8% | 0.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 953 | Goldsby OK | 3,591 | $103K | 11.2% | 2.4% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,644 | Jones OK | 3,222 | $77K | 15.2% | 2.5% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,745 | Constantine Township MI | 4,043 | $74K | 11.8% | 7.2% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,746 | Bristol Township OH | 2,655 | $69K | 19.9% | 3.5% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,747 | Elgin OK | 3,653 | $96K | 11.1% | 7.2% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,748 | Washington Township KS | 3,543 | $66K | 10.2% | 4.1% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,749 | Flora Vista NM | 2,770 | $44K | 20.2% | 0.0% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,210 | 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 Elgin, 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 Elgin: questions
What is the median household income in Elgin?
$96,250 (±$26,925) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elgin?
11.1%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elgin?
29 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elgin work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lawton (41%, 14 mi), Oklahoma City (12%, 65 mi), Norman (2%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elgin walkable?
Elgin is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elgin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elgin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elgin
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.