Earning a living in Porum
Only 5% work in Porum; the top destination outside it is Muskogee (25%, 27 miles). For 22% of workers, the job is at home; Oklahoma has 9%. A typical one-way commute lasts 33 minutes (Oklahoma 22, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes Porum
On a workday 165 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 255 people come in from elsewhere.
About 700 people are in Porum on a workday afternoon, 15% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where Porum’s workers come from
Where Porum clocks in
25% of workers
8% 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.
Porum is a services town
264 jobs are based in Porum.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Porum, 2014 → 2024: 341 → 264. 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 Porum’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Porum spends getting to work: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Porum workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 100 commuters (the 22% 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 Porum commutes less than 29 miles
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 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 Porum: questions
What is the median household income in Porum?
$31,803 (±$5,153) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Porum?
28.8%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Porum?
33 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Porum work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Muskogee (25%, 27 mi), Tulsa (8%, 64 mi), Warner (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Porum without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Porum, from the people who make the trip.
More of Porum
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.