Hennessey has lower unemployment (3.0%) than 70% of U.S. towns
The trip to work takes 18 minutes on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. Jobs and income earn Hennessey C; getting around on foot earns it C−. About one in four work in Hennessey itself; outside it, Oklahoma City draws the most (15%, 49 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Hennessey
Hennessey’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Hennessey is Oklahoma City, 49 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (139) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Hennessey makes and builds things
55% of the jobs based in Hennessey are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Hennessey residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 30%. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Hennessey than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Hennessey fell from 1,901 in 2013 to 1,237 in 2023, −35%. 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 899 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Hennessey: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hennessey is better than 33% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Hennessey’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 18% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hennessey could be anywhere from D to B.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Hennessey
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.
In Hennessey, 55% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
1,237 jobs are based in Hennessey.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hennessey, 2013 → 2023: 1,901 → 1,237. 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 Hennessey’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Hennessey
On a workday 642 residents head out to work, 257 work right here, and 980 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Hennessey on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.38 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.
The towns that employ Hennessey’s residents
Where Hennessey clocks in
15% of workers
9% of workers
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.
Each way, about 18 minutes from Hennessey
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hennessey workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,044 commuters (the 5% 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.
Few in Hennessey walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hennessey is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns. 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 1,099 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). 0.7% of Hennessey households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hennessey’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hennessey is 3,372nd of 5,641 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 3,000 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,032 | Justice OK | 1,530 | $98K | 7.5% | 2.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,329 | Kiefer OK | 2,310 | $83K | 10.4% | 3.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,330 | Union City OK | 2,129 | $106K | 11.5% | 2.9% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,370 | Kimball NE | 2,271 | $56K | 14.9% | 0.0% | 46% | C |
| 3,371 | Bradford OH | 1,814 | $64K | 14.7% | 1.1% | 3% | C |
| 3,372 | Hennessey OK | 2,207 | $70K | 16.3% | 3.0% | 29% | C |
| 3,373 | Pearisburg VA | 2,873 | $76K | 11.9% | 4.2% | 17% | C |
| 3,374 | Rose Township IL | 1,883 | $66K | 10.3% | 4.1% | 15% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,641 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Hennessey, 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 Hennessey: questions
What is the median household income in Hennessey?
$70,181 (±$14,723) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hennessey?
16.3%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hennessey?
18 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hennessey work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oklahoma City (15%, 49 mi), Enid (9%, 21 mi), Kingfisher (6%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hennessey walkable?
Hennessey is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hennessey without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hennessey, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hennessey
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.