Photo: Todd Johnson · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Muldrow trail those of 93% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Muldrow itself; outside it, Fort Smith draws the most (30%, 13 miles). The poverty rate is 19.2% (Oklahoma 15.3%). For jobs and income Muldrow is better than 15% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (D).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Muldrow apart on work
Many Muldrow workers cross into Arkansas
48% of Muldrow workers work outside Oklahoma, most of them in Arkansas, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Muldrow has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Muldrow went from 504 in 2013 to 757 in 2023, +50%. The jobs ↓
Muldrow makes and builds things
40% of the jobs based in Muldrow are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Muldrow residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 22%. The jobs ↓
30% of Muldrow works in Fort Smith
394 working residents, 30%, have their main job in Fort Smith, AR, 13 miles away. That’s 3 times as many as work in Muldrow itself. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind Muldrow’s grade
Job access by car holds Muldrow’s grade up (ahead of 49% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($45,067, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Muldrow could be anywhere from D to C+.
Where Muldrow goes to work
Where Muldrow clocks in
30% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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.
Muldrow makes things: 40% of its jobs are in goods
757 jobs are based in Muldrow.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Muldrow, 2013 → 2023: 504 → 757. 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 Muldrow’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Muldrow
On a workday 1,199 residents head out to work, 113 work right here, and 644 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,800 people are in Muldrow on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.58 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.
Muldrow’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Muldrow workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,324 commuters (the 2% 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.
Where in the region Muldrow works
About 30% 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.
Few in Muldrow walk, bike or ride to work
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 1,355 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). 2.3% of Muldrow households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Muldrow’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600, Muldrow ranks 3,777th of 4,402 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Nichols Hills OK | 3,864 | $208K | 2.8% | 0.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 970 | Goldsby OK | 3,591 | $103K | 11.2% | 2.4% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,684 | Jones OK | 3,222 | $77K | 15.2% | 2.5% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,775 | Harbor OR | 2,437 | $55K | 10.8% | 3.5% | 18% | D |
| 3,776 | Bono AR | 2,858 | $56K | 17.1% | 10.8% | 3% | D |
| 3,777 | Muldrow OK | 3,375 | $45K | 19.2% | 6.2% | 9% | D |
| 3,778 | Curwensville PA | 2,473 | $56K | 14.8% | 6.9% | 14% | D |
| 3,779 | Burns OR | 2,692 | $42K | 15.5% | 3.4% | 41% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | 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 Muldrow, 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 Muldrow: questions
What is the median household income in Muldrow?
$45,067 (±$4,941) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Muldrow?
19.2%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Muldrow?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Muldrow work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Smith (30%, 13 mi), Sallisaw (6%, 12 mi), Roland (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Muldrow walkable?
Muldrow is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Muldrow without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Muldrow, from the people who make the trip.
More of Muldrow
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.