A.K. Wilson Building · Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Dallas (7.4%) than in 85% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 7.3 in Salem. Dallas grades C− for jobs and income and A for walkability. For 11% of workers, the job is at home, next to 19% for Oregon as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Dallas at work: what stands out
Dallas and Salem trade workers both ways
Salem is the top workplace for Dallas residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Dallas come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Dallas has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Dallas went from 3,316 in 2013 to 4,633 in 2023, +40%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Dallas’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dallas is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #106 of 142 in Oregon. Job access by car holds Dallas’ grade up (ahead of 45% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dallas could be anywhere from D to B−.
25% of working residents work in Salem
Where Dallas clocks in
25% 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.
What the 4,633 jobs in Dallas are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dallas, 2013 → 2023: 3,316 → 4,633. 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 Dallas’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Dallas
On a workday 6,170 residents head out to work, 1,124 work right here, and 3,509 people come in from elsewhere.
About 15,000 people are in Dallas on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.64 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Dallas’ commute takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dallas workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,815 commuters (the 11% 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 Dallas commutes
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Dallas
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dallas is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #64 of 142 in Oregon. Both inputs place Dallas 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 7,634 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, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 63% 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). 5.7% of Dallas households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Dallas’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Dallas ranks: 1,549th of 1,822 U.S. towns of 13,000 to 24,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 362 | Sherwood OR | 20,535 | $110K | 4.3% | 3.5% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 688 | Canby OR | 18,004 | $101K | 7.9% | 4.0% | 15% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 751 | Oatfield OR | 13,294 | $103K | 9.8% | 4.4% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,547 | Myrtle Grove FL | 15,595 | $68K | 17.7% | 8.2% | 3% | C− |
| 1,548 | El Reno OK | 20,730 | $56K | 19.3% | 6.1% | 28% | C− |
| 1,549 | Dallas OR | 17,890 | $72K | 15.5% | 7.4% | 15% | C− |
| 1,550 | Bellefontaine OH | 14,151 | $59K | 18.1% | 5.3% | 26% | C− |
| 1,551 | Logansport IN | 18,287 | $47K | 16.1% | 4.3% | 27% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,822 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Dallas, 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 Dallas: questions
What is the median household income in Dallas?
$71,549 (±$10,843) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dallas?
15.5%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dallas?
27 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dallas work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Salem (25%, 14 mi), Portland (7%, 53 mi), McMinnville (3%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dallas walkable?
Dallas is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.4 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dallas without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dallas, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dallas
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.