Households in Thomas earn less than those in 70% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Thomas itself; outside it, Oklahoma City draws the most (11%, 72 miles). 13.7% of residents live below the poverty line, where Oklahoma as a whole has 15.3%. The two grades for Thomas are D for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Thomas, in a few figures
Thomas’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Thomas is Oklahoma City, 72 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (39) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Thomas than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Thomas fell from 565 in 2013 to 361 in 2023, −36%. 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 353 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Thomas earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Thomas is better than 13% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Thomas’ grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 7% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.5%) is left out: Thomas’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, Thomas could be anywhere from D to C.
How far Thomas goes to work
About 34% 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.
The 361 jobs based in Thomas
361 jobs are based in Thomas.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Thomas, 2013 → 2023: 565 → 361. 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 Thomas’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Thomas
On a workday 297 residents head out to work, 56 work right here, and 305 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 (1.02 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 Thomas: the destinations
Where Thomas clocks in
11% 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.
About 27 minutes to work from Thomas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Thomas workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 511 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.
Thomas is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Thomas is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Thomas 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 530 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). 7.1% of Thomas households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Thomas’ commuters take a bus or train.
Thomas places 2,895th of 3,771 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Forest Park OK | 1,035 | $104K | 0.4% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 856 | Oologah OK | 1,358 | $80K | 9.4% | 7.6% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,140 | Okarche OK | 1,196 | $94K | 11.8% | 0.8% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,893 | Carthage Township OH | 1,464 | $54K | 11.4% | 2.8% | <1% | D |
| 2,894 | Mountain Village CO | 1,234 | $53K | 21.6% | 4.3% | 49% | D |
| 2,895 | Thomas OK | 1,129 | $63K | 13.7% | 3.5% | 16% | D |
| 2,896 | Scranton Township KS | 1,110 | $57K | 25.0% | 3.7% | 2% | D |
| 2,897 | Lamar Township MO | 1,434 | $57K | 14.7% | 0.0% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Thomas, 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 Thomas: questions
What is the median household income in Thomas?
$62,500 (±$5,775) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Thomas?
13.7%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Thomas?
27 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Thomas work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oklahoma City (11%, 72 mi), Weatherford (7%, 15 mi), Clinton (7%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Thomas walkable?
Thomas is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.2 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Thomas 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 Thomas, from the people who make the trip.
More of Thomas
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.