Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Unemployment in Woodward (7.5%) is higher than in 86% of U.S. towns
About two in five work in Woodward itself; outside it, Oklahoma City draws the most (9%, 125 miles). For jobs and income Woodward is better than 9% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (B). Household incomes here are lower than in 82% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Woodward in brief
Woodward’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Woodward is Oklahoma City, 125 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (469) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
41% 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 Woodward than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Woodward fell from 7,272 in 2014 to 5,270 in 2024, −28%. 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How Woodward earns its Jobs & income grade
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Woodward’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Woodward could be anywhere from D− to C−.
How far Woodward goes to work
About 41% 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.
Jobs in Woodward: what the 5,270 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Woodward, 2014 → 2024: 7,272 → 5,270. 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 Woodward’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Woodward on a workday
On a workday 2,797 residents head out to work, 2,148 work right here, and 3,122 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 (1.07 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.
Where people from Woodward work
Where Woodward clocks in
9% of workers
2% 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.
A commute of about 20 minutes in Woodward
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Woodward workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,603 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.
Getting around Woodward: mostly by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.3% 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 5,724 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). 5.7% of Woodward households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Woodward’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Woodward sits among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 472 | Newcastle OK | 15,198 | $93K | 3.8% | 2.8% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 479 | Piedmont OK | 9,427 | $104K | 2.6% | 3.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 708 | Choctaw OK | 12,549 | $101K | 6.3% | 3.1% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,566 | Golden Valley AZ | 8,567 | $43K | 23.7% | 3.9% | 5% | D |
| 2,567 | Oxford NC | 8,985 | $43K | 28.3% | 7.0% | 16% | D |
| 2,568 | Woodward OK | 11,635 | $54K | 17.2% | 7.5% | 43% | D |
| 2,569 | Pearsall TX | 9,170 | $49K | 28.0% | 4.9% | 21% | D |
| 2,570 | Orosi CA | 8,966 | $55K | 22.0% | 17.6% | 9% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 19% | 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 Woodward, 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 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 Woodward: questions
What is the median household income in Woodward?
$54,463 (±$5,262) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Woodward?
17.2%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Woodward?
20 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Woodward work?
43% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oklahoma City (9%, 125 mi), Enid (2%, 85 mi), Elk City (1%, 72 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Woodward walkable?
Woodward is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Woodward without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Woodward, from the people who make the trip.
More of Woodward
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. 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.