Photo: DougMiller65 · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Coos Bay are lower than in 79% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Coos Bay is better than 15% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (A). The poverty rate is 15.3%, where Oregon as a whole has 11.9%. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 19.6 in Portland.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Coos Bay, in brief
Commutes from Coos Bay 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 ↓
Coos Bay is where the jobs are
Coos Bay has 9,288 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Coos Bay and North Bend trade workers both ways
North Bend is the top workplace for Coos Bay residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Coos Bay come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Coos Bay
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Coos Bay’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Coos Bay could be anywhere from D to C.
Commuting from Coos Bay: about 14 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Coos Bay workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,630 commuters (the 7% 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.
Who works in Coos Bay, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 3,520 residents head out to work, 2,329 work right here, and 6,959 people come in from elsewhere.
About 19,000 people are in Coos Bay on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The towns that send workers to Coos Bay
Where Coos Bay clocks in
15% of workers
3% 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.
Jobs in Coos Bay: what the 9,288 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Coos Bay, 2014 → 2024: 8,578 → 9,288. 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 Coos Bay’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Coos Bay
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Coos Bay is easy on foot, hard by bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.3% 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 7,103 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 83% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 11% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 64% 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). 11.9% of Coos Bay households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Coos Bay’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000, and where Coos Bay sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 170 | Oak Hills OR | 11,131 | $127K | 3.4% | 3.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 355 | Damascus OR | 11,437 | $123K | 3.2% | 3.6% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 436 | Sherwood OR | 20,535 | $110K | 4.3% | 3.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,956 | Anniston AL | 20,930 | $47K | 20.6% | 6.4% | 28% | D |
| 1,957 | Branson MO | 12,921 | $52K | 20.2% | 5.8% | 47% | D |
| 1,958 | Coos Bay OR | 15,686 | $57K | 15.3% | 6.0% | 40% | D |
| 1,959 | Reidsville NC | 14,692 | $43K | 21.1% | 6.4% | 16% | D |
| 1,960 | Bristol VA | 16,418 | $50K | 18.0% | 6.3% | 27% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Coos Bay, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
Work next door: 16% of Coos Bay’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Coos Bay workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coos Bay | – | D | A | 14 min | $56,524 |
| Bunker Hill | 1% | D | A | 11 min | $60,058 |
| North Bend | 15% | C | A− | 15 min | $81,320 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to North Bend. Darker towns draw more of Coos Bay’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 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 Coos Bay: questions
What is the median household income in Coos Bay?
$56,524 (±$3,468) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Coos Bay?
15.3%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Coos Bay?
14 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Coos Bay work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are North Bend (15%, 2 mi), Grants Pass (3%, 80 mi), Coquille (3%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Coos Bay walkable?
Coos Bay is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Coos Bay without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 11% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Coos Bay, from the people who make the trip.
More of Coos Bay
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.