Choate Cabin · Photo: Wrae Ann · CC BY-SA 3.0Indianola has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Only 3% work in Indianola; the top destination outside it is McAlester (26%, 16 miles). There are 14 jobs in Indianola, and 35 of its residents work somewhere. 0% of workers have no commute at all, where Oklahoma as a whole has 9%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Indianola by day and by night
On a workday 34 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 13 people come in from elsewhere.
About 120 people are in Indianola on a workday afternoon, 15% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Indianola ends
Where Indianola clocks in
26% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Indianola, 2014 → 2024: 85 → 14. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Indianola’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 21 minutes each way, about the OK average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Indianola workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 39 commuters (the 0% 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.
The commute from Indianola, by distance
About 37% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Indianola: questions
What is the median household income in Indianola?
$37,857 (±$10,116) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Indianola?
27.6%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Indianola?
21 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Indianola work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are McAlester (26%, 16 mi), Canadian (9%, 7 mi), Pryor Creek (6%, 83 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Indianola without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Indianola, from the people who make the trip.
More of Indianola
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.