Households in Spiro have lower incomes than those in 95% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Spiro D; getting around on foot earns it B. 20.6% of residents live below the poverty line, against 15.3% across Oklahoma. About one in ten stay in Spiro for work; outside it, Fort Smith is the main destination (31%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Spiro, in a few figures
A lot of Spiro workers cross into Arkansas
39% of Spiro workers work outside Oklahoma, most of them in Arkansas, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
31% of Spiro works in Fort Smith
231 working residents, 31%, have their main job in Fort Smith, AR, 16 miles away. That’s 3 times as many as work in Spiro itself. The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Spiro than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Spiro fell from 846 in 2013 to 481 in 2023, −43%. 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 ↓
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 745 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Spiro: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Spiro is better than 11% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Spiro’s grade up (ahead of 44% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($41,848, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (6.5%) is left out: Spiro’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, Spiro could be anywhere from D to C−.
Where Spiro goes to work
Where Spiro clocks in
31% of workers
6% 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.
What work there is in Spiro: 481 jobs
481 jobs are based in Spiro.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spiro, 2013 → 2023: 846 → 481. 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 Spiro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Spiro on a workday afternoon
On a workday 673 residents head out to work, 72 work right here, and 409 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Spiro on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.65 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Each way, about 21 minutes from Spiro
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spiro workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 787 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.
The commute from Spiro, by distance
About 25% 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.
Driving is how Spiro gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Spiro is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Spiro 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 816 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). 12.1% of Spiro households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Spiro’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,102 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000, Spiro comes 4,311th on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,214 | Kiefer OK | 2,310 | $83K | 10.4% | 3.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,215 | Union City OK | 2,129 | $106K | 11.5% | 2.9% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,267 | Norwood OK | 1,752 | $89K | 8.2% | 0.0% | <1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,309 | Franklin ME | 1,666 | $65K | 15.7% | 7.9% | 4% | D |
| 4,310 | Blountsville AL | 1,816 | $48K | 17.1% | 3.5% | 9% | D |
| 4,311 | Spiro OK | 2,230 | $42K | 20.6% | 6.5% | 10% | D |
| 4,312 | McMechen WV | 1,605 | $40K | 27.5% | 7.5% | 2% | D |
| 4,313 | Wells Township OH | 2,377 | $49K | 18.2% | 5.3% | 5% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | 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 Spiro, 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 Spiro: questions
What is the median household income in Spiro?
$41,848 (±$9,756) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spiro?
20.6%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spiro?
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 Spiro work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Smith (31%, 16 mi), Poteau (6%, 12 mi), Sallisaw (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Spiro walkable?
Spiro is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Spiro without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spiro, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spiro
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.