Photo: Jamie · CC BY 2.0Erick at work: jobs, income and the commute
177 jobs are based in Erick for 264 working residents. About one in five stay in Erick for work; outside it, Elk City is the main destination (11%, 28 miles). Working residents average 16 minutes each way, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Erick, in a few figures
Erick’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Erick is Elk City, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (29) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
39% 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 Erick than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Erick fell from 306 in 2013 to 177 in 2023, −42%. 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 264 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How far Erick’s workers travel
About 39% 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 Erick
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Erick, 2013 → 2023: 306 → 177. 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 Erick’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Erick by day
On a workday 214 residents head out to work, 50 work right here, and 127 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.
0.67 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.
Where the trip to work from Erick ends
Where Erick clocks in
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 trip to work from Erick: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Erick workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 258 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.
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 Erick: questions
What is the median household income in Erick?
$32,955 (±$13,229) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Erick?
37.5%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Erick?
16 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Erick work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Elk City (11%, 28 mi), Sayre (8%, 15 mi), Sweetwater (6%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Erick without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Erick, from the people who make the trip.
More of Erick
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.