Household incomes in Wister are lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
25.3% of residents live below the poverty line; Oklahoma has 15.3%. For jobs and income Wister is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (C+). 2% of workers have no commute at all; Oklahoma has 9%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Wister
Wister and Poteau trade workers both ways
Poteau is the top workplace for Wister residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Wister come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Wister workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 22 across Oklahoma. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 84 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 ↓
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 388 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Wister
On income, poverty and job access, Wister is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Wister’s grade.
Unemployment (4.5%) is left out: Wister’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Wister stays D−.
28% of working residents work in Poteau
Where Wister clocks in
28% of workers
9% 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.
From Wister, about 33 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wister workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 372 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Wister
About 35% 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.
How a workday changes Wister
On a workday 376 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 185 people come in from elsewhere.
About 880 people are in Wister on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.51 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.
What work there is in Wister: 197 jobs
197 jobs are based in Wister.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wister, 2013 → 2023: 175 → 197. 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 Wister’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most trips from Wister start in a car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 380 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). 5.2% of Wister households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wister’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wister next to U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Forest Park OK | 1,035 | $104K | 0.4% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 692 | Oologah OK | 1,358 | $80K | 9.4% | 7.6% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 929 | Okarche OK | 1,196 | $94K | 11.8% | 0.8% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,049 | Rainelle WV | 1,180 | $36K | 29.8% | 2.7% | 11% | D− |
| 3,050 | Wilcox Township MI | 1,186 | $45K | 29.5% | 7.1% | 2% | D− |
| 3,051 | Wister OK | 1,068 | $37K | 25.3% | 4.5% | 3% | D− |
| 3,052 | Ansted WV | 1,273 | $38K | 27.2% | 2.5% | 6% | D− |
| 3,053 | Ashland ME | 1,186 | $47K | 23.6% | 1.6% | 19% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Wister, the top three, the last and three more from Oklahoma.
Work next door: 28% of Wister’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Poteau. Darker towns draw more of Wister’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 Wister: questions
What is the median household income in Wister?
$36,607 (±$8,620) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wister?
25.3%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wister?
33 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wister work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Poteau (28%, 9 mi), Fort Smith (9%, 33 mi), Oklahoma City (4%, 161 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wister walkable?
Wister is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wister without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wister, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wister
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.