Dow Grain Company Elevator · Photo: Melodibit · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Okarche top those of 72% of U.S. towns
11.8% of residents are in poverty, where Oklahoma as a whole has 15.3%. Okarche grades B− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Only 5% stay in Okarche for work; outside it, Oklahoma City is the main destination (38%, 32 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Okarche
Okarche and Oklahoma City trade workers both ways
Oklahoma City is the top workplace for Okarche residents (38%) and also where the most people who work in Okarche come from (26% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Okarche than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Okarche fell from 1,843 in 2013 to 793 in 2023, −57%. 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 ↓
Okarche is where the jobs are
Okarche has 793 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
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 512 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Okarche earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Okarche is better than 53% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Okarche’s grade up ($94,063, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (0.8%) is left out: Okarche’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Okarche could be anywhere from C to A−.
Who travels to work in Okarche, and from where
Where Okarche clocks in
38% of workers
7% 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.
Okarche works in goods: 59% of its jobs
793 jobs are based in Okarche.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Okarche, 2013 → 2023: 1,843 → 793. 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 Okarche’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Okarche, and who commutes in
On a workday 485 residents head out to work, 27 work right here, and 766 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Okarche on a workday afternoon, 23% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Time on the road from Okarche: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Okarche workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 571 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.
Half of Okarche commutes less than 28 miles
About 20% 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.
For most of Okarche, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Okarche is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.5% across Oklahoma, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 584 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). 3.6% of Okarche households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Okarche’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Okarche is 1,323rd of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Forest Park OK | 1,035 | $104K | 0.4% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 564 | Justice OK | 1,530 | $98K | 7.5% | 2.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 996 | Oologah OK | 1,358 | $80K | 9.4% | 7.6% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,321 | Lind WI | 1,550 | $79K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 1% | B− |
| 1,322 | Mount Pulaski IL | 1,499 | $66K | 5.9% | 2.9% | 14% | B− |
| 1,323 | Okarche OK | 1,196 | $94K | 11.8% | 0.8% | 5% | B− |
| 1,324 | South Homer Township IL | 1,446 | $84K | 9.1% | 3.0% | 4% | B− |
| 1,325 | Worthington MA | 1,166 | $92K | 4.5% | 3.6% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Okarche, 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 Okarche: questions
What is the median household income in Okarche?
$94,063 (±$22,238) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Okarche?
11.8%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Okarche?
21 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Okarche work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oklahoma City (38%, 32 mi), Kingfisher (7%, 8 mi), El Reno (6%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Okarche walkable?
Okarche is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Okarche 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 Okarche, from the people who make the trip.
More of Okarche
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.