ZCBJ Lodge No. 46 · Photo: kennethaw88 · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Prague trail those of 87% of U.S. towns
29.2% of residents live below the poverty line (Oklahoma 15.3%). Jobs and income earn Prague D−; getting around on foot earns it B. About one in seven work in Prague; the top destination outside it is Oklahoma City (22%, 46 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Prague stands out on work
Prague’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Prague is Oklahoma City, 46 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (161) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Prague than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Prague fell from 957 in 2013 to 607 in 2023, −37%. 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 ↓
Prague makes and builds things
42% of the jobs based in Prague are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Prague residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 18%. The jobs ↓
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 719 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Prague
On income, poverty and job access, Prague is better than 3% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Prague’s grade.
Unemployment (3.6%) is left out: Prague’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Prague could be anywhere from D− to D.
How many miles Prague commutes
About 24% 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.
Goods jobs make up 42% of work in Prague
607 jobs are based in Prague.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Prague, 2013 → 2023: 957 → 607. 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 Prague’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Prague by day and by night
On a workday 629 residents head out to work, 90 work right here, and 517 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.84 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.
Commuting out of Prague: the destinations
Where Prague clocks in
22% of workers
12% 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.
Time on the road from Prague: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Prague workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 779 commuters (the 11% 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.
In Prague, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Prague is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Prague near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 872 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). 4.5% of Prague households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Prague’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Prague compares with U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,308 | Kiefer OK | 2,310 | $83K | 10.4% | 3.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,309 | Union City OK | 2,129 | $106K | 11.5% | 2.9% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,710 | Jones OK | 3,222 | $77K | 15.2% | 2.5% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,967 | Mamou LA | 2,830 | $25K | 58.5% | 7.7% | 15% | D− |
| 4,968 | Belzoni MS | 1,719 | $34K | 18.8% | 9.4% | 13% | D− |
| 4,969 | Prague OK | 2,427 | $51K | 29.2% | 3.6% | 13% | D− |
| 4,970 | Richland Township MI | 2,778 | $51K | 21.1% | 15.1% | 6% | D− |
| 4,971 | Ferrum VA | 1,774 | $40K | 37.1% | 7.3% | 7% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Prague, 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 Prague: questions
What is the median household income in Prague?
$50,893 (±$14,016) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Prague?
29.2%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Prague?
23 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Prague work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oklahoma City (22%, 46 mi), Shawnee (12%, 17 mi), Tulsa (4%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Prague walkable?
Prague is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Prague 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 Prague, from the people who make the trip.
More of Prague
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.