Photo: David Dobbs · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Purcell earn less than those in 68% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 14.0% of residents; Oklahoma has 15.3%. Purcell grades C+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in seven work in Purcell; the top destination outside it is Oklahoma City (25%, 32 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Purcell: the figures worth knowing
Purcell trades workers with the towns around it
Purcell has about as many jobs (2,252) as working residents (2,633), but they are mostly different people: 2,260 residents leave for work each day while 1,879 people come in. Only 17% of the jobs in Purcell are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
The quickest commute around
Purcell’s 19-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 28 to 31 minutes. Next door ↓
Purcell’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Purcell is Oklahoma City, 32 miles away as the crow flies. 25% of working residents (651) 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.
Purcell’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Purcell is better than 43% of U.S. towns, #33 of 131 in Oklahoma. Job access by car holds Purcell’s grade up (ahead of 63% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Purcell could be anywhere from C− to B+.
In and out of Purcell on a workday
On a workday 2,260 residents head out to work, 373 work right here, and 1,879 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 (0.86 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.
How many miles Purcell commutes
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.
Where people from Purcell work
Where Purcell clocks in
25% 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.
The kinds of work in Purcell
2,252 jobs are based in Purcell.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Purcell, 2013 → 2023: 2,777 → 2,252. 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 Purcell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Purcell, about 19 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Purcell workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,672 commuters (the 8% 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.
Most of Purcell commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Purcell is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns, #95 of 131 in Oklahoma. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% of 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 2,903 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). 1.8% of Purcell households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Purcell’s commuters take a bus or train.
Purcell is 2,061st of 3,227 U.S. towns of 4,900 to 9,500 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 466 | Piedmont OK | 9,427 | $104K | 2.6% | 3.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 755 | Verdigris OK | 5,888 | $84K | 6.8% | 2.3% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 939 | Tuttle OK | 8,708 | $104K | 5.3% | 4.8% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,059 | Gas City IN | 6,081 | $56K | 16.8% | 2.0% | 18% | C+ |
| 2,060 | Tecumseh MI | 8,608 | $63K | 5.6% | 5.5% | 14% | C+ |
| 2,061 | Purcell OK | 7,030 | $63K | 14.0% | 4.0% | 14% | C+ |
| 2,062 | Bedford Township PA | 5,088 | $61K | 1.9% | 5.9% | 29% | C+ |
| 2,063 | Stratmoor CO | 5,412 | $65K | 10.6% | 5.9% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,227 | 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 Purcell, the top three, the last and three more from Oklahoma.
How Purcell compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Goldsby (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Purcell workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purcell | – | C+ | C+ | 19 min | $63,457 |
| Goldsby | 4% | A− | C | 28 min | $103,333 |
| Slaughterville | under 2% | C | D− | 31 min | $72,944 |
| Lexington | 1% | C− | C+ | 30 min | $46,932 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Purcell’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 Purcell: questions
What is the median household income in Purcell?
$63,457 (±$5,029) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Purcell?
14.0%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Purcell?
19 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Purcell work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oklahoma City (25%, 32 mi), Norman (16%, 15 mi), Goldsby (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Purcell walkable?
Purcell is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Purcell 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 Purcell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Purcell
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.