Photo: Cacophony · CC BY-SA 3.0Burns has lower household incomes than 95% of U.S. towns
15.5% of residents are in poverty; Oregon has 11.9%. For jobs and income Burns is better than 15% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (A−). Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 19.6 in Portland.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Burns
Commutes from Burns are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 23 across Oregon. That’s about 77 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
36% 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Burns
Unemployment holds Burns’ grade up (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 2% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Burns could be anywhere from D− to C+.
The daily trip from Burns: about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Burns workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 998 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.
How many miles Burns commutes
About 36% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Burns
On a workday 632 residents head out to work, 439 work right here, and 867 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 (1.22 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.
13% of working residents work in Hines
Where Burns clocks in
13% of workers
4% 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.
What Burns’ employers do
1,306 jobs are based in Burns.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Burns, 2013 → 2023: 1,233 → 1,306. 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 Burns’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Burns, walking beats the bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,113 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 30% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% 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). 7.8% of Burns households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Burns’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,797 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600, Burns comes 3,993rd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 203 | Hubbard OR | 3,399 | $102K | 3.6% | 1.6% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 326 | Millersburg OR | 3,583 | $125K | 5.1% | 1.5% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 741 | North Plains OR | 3,414 | $118K | 2.9% | 6.4% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,991 | Muldrow OK | 3,375 | $45K | 19.2% | 6.2% | 9% | D |
| 3,992 | Curwensville PA | 2,473 | $56K | 14.8% | 6.9% | 14% | D |
| 3,993 | Burns OR | 2,692 | $42K | 15.5% | 3.4% | 41% | D |
| 3,994 | Floydada TX | 2,420 | $53K | 20.1% | 3.7% | 34% | D |
| 3,995 | Appomattox VA | 2,025 | $52K | 12.2% | 8.2% | 16% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Burns, 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 Burns: questions
What is the median household income in Burns?
$41,858 (±$12,852) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Burns?
15.5%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Burns?
13 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Burns work?
41% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hines (13%, 2 mi), Bend (4%, 117 mi), Redmond (2%, 115 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Burns walkable?
Burns is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Burns without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Burns, from the people who make the trip.
More of Burns
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.