Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0Baker City has higher unemployment (7.2%) than 84% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 10% of workers, against 19% across Oregon. Jobs and income earn Baker City D; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.7 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 19.6 in Portland.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Baker City in brief
Most jobs in Baker City go to people who live here
Of the 3,825 jobs based in Baker City, 51% are held by Baker City residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Baker City are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 23 across Oregon. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Oregon worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
The figures behind Baker City’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Baker City is better than 12% of U.S. towns, #125 of 142 in Oregon. The poverty rate holds Baker City’s grade up (14.0%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 12% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Baker City could be anywhere from D to C.
Who commutes out of Baker City, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,721 residents head out to work, 1,965 work right here, and 1,860 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 (1.04 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.
The trip to work from Baker City: about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Baker City workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,423 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Oregon: 80% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
5% of working residents work in La Grande
Where Baker City clocks in
5% 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.
Inside Baker City’s 3,825 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Baker City, 2013 → 2023: 3,933 → 3,825. 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 Baker City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Baker City, by distance
About 28% 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.
In Baker City, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Baker City is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns, #32 of 142 in Oregon. Both inputs place Baker City 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 3,822 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 69% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 30% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 54% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.3% of Baker City households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Baker City’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Baker City compares with U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 168 | Bull Mountain OR | 9,865 | $165K | 4.7% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 207 | Oak Hills OR | 11,131 | $127K | 3.4% | 3.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 409 | Damascus OR | 11,437 | $123K | 3.2% | 3.6% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,647 | Clanton AL | 9,289 | $48K | 18.1% | 7.1% | 23% | D |
| 2,648 | Kennett MO | 10,118 | $53K | 19.1% | 5.4% | 38% | D |
| 2,649 | Baker City OR | 10,071 | $62K | 14.0% | 7.2% | 53% | D |
| 2,650 | Farmville VA | 7,593 | $41K | 20.4% | 2.9% | 23% | D |
| 2,651 | New Kingman-Butler AZ | 13,993 | $41K | 20.8% | 4.1% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Baker City, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
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 Baker City: questions
What is the median household income in Baker City?
$61,580 (±$7,804) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Baker City?
14.0%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Baker City?
14 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Baker City work?
53% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are La Grande (5%, 40 mi), Portland (3%, 240 mi), Pendleton (2%, 79 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Baker City walkable?
Baker City is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.7 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Baker City without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 30% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Baker City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Baker City
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.