Photo: Jeremy Wagg · Public domainMcAlester has lower household incomes than 85% of U.S. towns
About half work in McAlester; the top destination outside it is Oklahoma City (4%, 105 miles). 19.7% of residents are in poverty, next to 15.3% for Oklahoma as a whole. For jobs and income McAlester is better than 9% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: McAlester in brief
Commutes from McAlester are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 22 across Oklahoma. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Oklahoma worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of McAlester workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of McAlester’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 16% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 ↓
McAlester draws workers from far and wide
The 8,510 jobs in McAlester are filled from a wide area. McAlester’s own residents hold 30% and the ten next-biggest home towns 14%; the other 56% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in McAlester
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides McAlester’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, McAlester could be anywhere from D to C−.
Getting to work from McAlester takes about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of McAlester workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,501 commuters (the 6% 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.
Jobs in McAlester: what the 8,510 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in McAlester, 2013 → 2023: 9,344 → 8,510. 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 McAlester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles McAlester commutes
About 35% 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.
Where McAlester goes to work
Where McAlester clocks in
4% of workers
3% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of McAlester
On a workday 3,113 residents head out to work, 2,593 work right here, and 5,917 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in McAlester on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.49 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.
In McAlester, the car does most of the work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% 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 6,944 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). 9.0% of McAlester households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of McAlester’s commuters take a bus or train.
How McAlester compares with U.S. towns of 13,000 to 24,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 333 | Newcastle OK | 15,198 | $93K | 3.8% | 2.8% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 892 | Glenpool OK | 14,705 | $80K | 11.0% | 3.3% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,150 | Sapulpa OK | 23,695 | $64K | 14.2% | 3.2% | 12% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,769 | Red Bluff CA | 14,404 | $52K | 18.8% | 7.2% | 27% | D |
| 1,770 | Greenwood SC | 22,745 | $41K | 21.6% | 8.7% | 28% | D |
| 1,771 | McAlester OK | 18,044 | $52K | 19.7% | 6.9% | 45% | D |
| 1,772 | Fallsburg NY | 15,156 | $62K | 24.9% | 8.5% | 20% | D |
| 1,773 | Mountain Home AR | 13,373 | $41K | 18.8% | 7.3% | 52% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,822 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 McAlester, the top three, the last and three more from Oklahoma.
How McAlester compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Krebs (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of McAlester’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 McAlester: questions
What is the median household income in McAlester?
$51,930 (±$3,657) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in McAlester?
19.7%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from McAlester?
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 McAlester work?
45% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oklahoma City (4%, 105 mi), Krebs (3%, 3 mi), Muskogee (3%, 61 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is McAlester walkable?
McAlester is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around McAlester without a car?
<1% 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 McAlester, from the people who make the trip.
More of McAlester
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.