Photo: Clinton Steeds · CC BY 2.0Households in Poteau have lower incomes than those in 87% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Poteau itself; outside it, Fort Smith draws the most (14%, 24 miles). Below the poverty line: 19.8% of residents; Oklahoma has 15.3%. The two grades for Poteau are D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Poteau: the gist
A lot of Poteau workers cross into Arkansas
18% of Poteau workers work outside Oklahoma, most of them in Arkansas, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Poteau is where the jobs are
Poteau has 4,678 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Poteau workers earn over $40,000 a year
40% of Poteau’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 19% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Poteau’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Poteau is Fort Smith, AR, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (415) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
Poteau’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Poteau is better than 10% of U.S. towns, #98 of 131 in Oklahoma. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Poteau’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Poteau could be anywhere from D− to C.
Commuting in to Poteau: where workers come from
Where Poteau clocks in
14% of workers
5% 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.
Poteau by day and by night
On a workday 2,005 residents head out to work, 1,054 work right here, and 3,624 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Poteau on a workday afternoon, 18% 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.
What the 4,678 jobs in Poteau are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Poteau, 2013 → 2023: 4,444 → 4,678. 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 Poteau’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Poteau
About 29% 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.
Commuting from Poteau: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Poteau workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,095 commuters (the 4% 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.
For most of Poteau, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Poteau is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #44 of 131 in Oklahoma. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 3,238 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). 7.3% of Poteau households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Poteau’s commuters take a bus or train.
Poteau and other U.S. towns of 6,400 to 12,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 481 | Piedmont OK | 9,427 | $104K | 2.6% | 3.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 938 | Tuttle OK | 8,708 | $104K | 5.3% | 4.8% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,034 | Noble OK | 7,748 | $82K | 10.8% | 1.2% | 10% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,701 | Colusa CA | 6,519 | $71K | 18.1% | 10.3% | 25% | D |
| 2,702 | Lamar CO | 7,588 | $53K | 21.3% | 4.8% | 49% | D |
| 2,703 | Poteau OK | 9,171 | $51K | 19.8% | 6.1% | 34% | D |
| 2,704 | Seneca SC | 9,424 | $52K | 22.1% | 8.9% | 8% | D |
| 2,705 | Savannah TN | 7,689 | $40K | 29.8% | 4.5% | 33% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,886 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Poteau, the top three, the last and three more from Oklahoma.
How Poteau compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Poteau workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poteau | – | D | B+ | 21 min | $50,511 |
| Wister | under 2% | D− | C+ | 33 min | $36,607 |
| Shady Point | under 2% | D | D | 25 min | $52,375 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Poteau’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 Poteau: questions
What is the median household income in Poteau?
$50,511 (±$6,620) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Poteau?
19.8%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Poteau?
21 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Poteau work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Smith (14%, 24 mi), Heavener (5%, 12 mi), Oklahoma City (3%, 166 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Poteau walkable?
Poteau is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Poteau without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Poteau, from the people who make the trip.
More of Poteau
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.