Photo: Davist898 · CC BY-SA 4.0At 3.3%, unemployment in Brookings is lower than in 65% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.6 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 19.6 in Portland. The two grades for Brookings are C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in three work in Brookings; the top destination outside it is Harbor (11%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Brookings at work: what stands out
Commutes from Brookings are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 23 across Oregon. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Oregon worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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.
Where Brookings’ Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brookings is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #97 of 142 in Oregon. Unemployment holds Brookings’ grade up; job access by car pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brookings could be anywhere from D to B.
Brookings’ commute takes about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brookings workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,598 commuters (the 12% 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.
How far Brookings’ workers travel
About 31% 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 many people are in Brookings by day
On a workday 1,391 residents head out to work, 768 work right here, and 1,841 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 (1.21 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 towns that employ Brookings’ residents
Where Brookings clocks in
11% of workers
6% 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.
What work there is in Brookings: 2,609 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brookings, 2013 → 2023: 2,373 → 2,609. 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 Brookings’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Brookings is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brookings is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #79 of 142 in Oregon. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.4% across Oregon.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,968 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 36% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 19% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 2.6% of Brookings households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Brookings’ commuters take a bus or train.
Brookings places 2,449th of 3,306 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 4,500 to 8,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 318 | Beavercreek OR | 4,894 | $135K | 4.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 385 | Creswell OR | 5,566 | $100K | 4.3% | 0.8% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 477 | Cedar Hills OR | 8,388 | $106K | 2.3% | 5.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,447 | Litchfield MN | 6,528 | $55K | 15.1% | 2.9% | 40% | C |
| 2,448 | Riverside MO | 4,581 | $52K | 17.3% | 6.5% | 6% | C |
| 2,449 | Brookings OR | 6,431 | $75K | 16.9% | 3.3% | 36% | C |
| 2,450 | Cumberland Township PA | 6,066 | $64K | 19.9% | 2.8% | 10% | C |
| 2,451 | Newton NJ | 8,486 | $76K | 15.1% | 9.9% | 14% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,306 | 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 Brookings, 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 Brookings: questions
What is the median household income in Brookings?
$74,933 (±$10,226) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brookings?
16.9%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brookings?
15 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brookings work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harbor (11%, 4 mi), Crescent City (6%, 22 mi), Gold Beach (4%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brookings walkable?
Brookings is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brookings without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 19% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brookings, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brookings
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.