Making a living in Waynoka
Home is the office for 2% of workers, next to 9% for Oklahoma as a whole. About one in seven work in Waynoka itself; outside it, Alva draws the most (13%, 19 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 27 minutes, where Oklahoma has 22 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Waynoka, in a few figures
A big share show a job far from home
52% 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 ↓
Waynoka makes and builds things
53% of the jobs based in Waynoka are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Waynoka residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 23%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Waynoka pay better than its residents’ jobs
72% of the jobs based in Waynoka pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 51% of the jobs Waynoka residents hold. 84% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Waynoka. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 336 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The commute from Waynoka, by distance
About 52% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Waynoka works in goods: 53% of its jobs
303 jobs are based in Waynoka.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waynoka, 2014 → 2024: 174 → 303. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Waynoka’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 287 residents head out to work, 49 work right here, and 254 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 (0.90 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Waynoka: the destinations
Where Waynoka clocks in
13% of workers
5% 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 each way, longer than most of Oklahoma
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waynoka workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 355 commuters (the 2% 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.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Waynoka: questions
What is the median household income in Waynoka?
$52,431 (±$6,629) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waynoka?
21.2%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waynoka?
27 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waynoka work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Alva (13%, 19 mi), Oklahoma City (13%, 108 mi), Enid (5%, 58 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Waynoka 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 Waynoka, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waynoka
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.