Photo: Peregrine Fisher · Public domainHouseholds in Cave Junction earn less than those in 96% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.0 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 19.6 in Portland. 27.7% of residents live below the poverty line; Oregon has 11.9%. About one in five work in Cave Junction; the top destination outside it is Grants Pass (15%, 24 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Cave Junction in brief
Cave Junction’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Cave Junction is Grants Pass, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (77) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Cave Junction workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 23 across Oregon. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical 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; with 497 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Cave Junction: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Cave Junction is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Cave Junction’s grade.
Unemployment (8.3%) is left out: Cave Junction’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, Cave Junction stays D−.
Miles to work from Cave Junction
About 24% 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.
Time on the road from Cave Junction: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cave Junction workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 490 commuters (the 15% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Cave Junction
On a workday 393 residents head out to work, 104 work right here, and 625 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Cave Junction on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 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.
Commuting out of Cave Junction: the destinations
Where Cave Junction clocks in
15% of workers
11% 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 work there is in Cave Junction: 729 jobs
729 jobs are based in Cave Junction.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cave Junction, 2013 → 2023: 583 → 729. 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 Cave Junction’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Cave Junction
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 578 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 97% 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 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 57% 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). 6.6% of Cave Junction households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cave Junction’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800, and where Cave Junction sits
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Dunthorpe OR | 1,875 | $250K | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 190 | Boring OR | 1,869 | $159K | 3.8% | 6.0% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 233 | Stafford OR | 1,600 | $163K | 6.9% | 5.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,117 | Cumberland KY | 1,761 | $35K | 52.9% | 30.1% | 10% | D− |
| 5,118 | Hollandale MS | 2,090 | $26K | 39.4% | 9.5% | 20% | D− |
| 5,119 | Cave Junction OR | 2,074 | $39K | 27.7% | 8.3% | 21% | D− |
| 5,120 | Oroville WA | 1,935 | $40K | 26.9% | 5.5% | 19% | D− |
| 5,121 | Pablo MT | 1,632 | $36K | 34.5% | 9.5% | 8% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Cave Junction, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
Work in the towns next to Cave Junction
The biggest share goes to Kerby (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cave Junction workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cave Junction | – | D− | A+ | 28 min | $39,291 |
| Kerby | 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Kerby: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cave Junction’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 Cave Junction: questions
What is the median household income in Cave Junction?
$39,291 (±$4,775) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cave Junction?
27.7%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cave Junction?
28 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cave Junction work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grants Pass (15%, 24 mi), Medford (11%, 42 mi), Eugene (2%, 133 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cave Junction walkable?
Cave Junction is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.1 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cave Junction without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cave Junction, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cave Junction
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.