Photo: Paltron · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Heavener trail those of 98% of U.S. towns
1% of workers work from home (Oklahoma 9%). Below the poverty line: 33.0% of residents, next to 15.3% for Oklahoma as a whole. For jobs and income Heavener is better than 3% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (C+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Heavener in brief
Heavener makes and builds things
59% of the jobs based in Heavener are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Heavener residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 32%. The jobs ↓
Fewer than half of Heavener workers earn over $40,000 a year
39% of Heavener’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 15% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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; with 971 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Heavener’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Unemployment holds Heavener’s grade up (6.0%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($34,408, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Heavener could be anywhere from D− to D.
In Heavener, 59% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
1,352 jobs are based in Heavener.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Heavener, 2013 → 2023: 1,980 → 1,352. 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 Heavener’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Heavener commutes
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.
Heavener by day and by night
On a workday 703 residents head out to work, 268 work right here, and 1,084 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,500 people are in Heavener on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.39 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.
14% of working residents work in Poteau
Where Heavener clocks in
14% of workers
6% 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.
Time on the road from Heavener: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Heavener workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,008 commuters (the 1% 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 Heavener, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 1,022 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). 16.1% of Heavener households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Heavener’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100, and where Heavener sits
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Nichols Hills OK | 3,864 | $208K | 2.8% | 0.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 982 | Goldsby OK | 3,591 | $103K | 11.2% | 2.4% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,321 | Kiefer OK | 2,310 | $83K | 10.4% | 3.0% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,617 | Falmouth KY | 2,200 | $35K | 27.8% | 3.5% | 17% | D− |
| 4,618 | Watonga OK | 2,594 | $54K | 19.2% | 13.5% | 21% | D− |
| 4,619 | Heavener OK | 3,070 | $34K | 33.0% | 6.0% | 28% | D− |
| 4,620 | Williston SC | 2,898 | $39K | 30.5% | 6.5% | 10% | D− |
| 4,621 | Center Township OH | 3,362 | $49K | 19.4% | 9.0% | 29% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | 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 Heavener, 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 Heavener: questions
What is the median household income in Heavener?
$34,408 (±$5,657) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Heavener?
33.0%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Heavener?
24 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Heavener work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Poteau (14%, 12 mi), Fort Smith (6%, 34 mi), Oklahoma City (3%, 169 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Heavener walkable?
Heavener is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Heavener without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Heavener, from the people who make the trip.
More of Heavener
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.