Photo: Nicolas from Paris, France · CC BY-SA 2.0Grants Pass has 1.5 jobs for every working resident: 14,430 people commute in to work
Jobs & income C: better than 26% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #103 of 142 in Oregon.
Walkability A: more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns · #74 of 142 in Oregon.
Household incomes here are lower than in 75% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 18 minutes each way (Oregon 23, U.S. 26). About half work in Grants Pass; the top destination outside it is Medford (13%, 25 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.5 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 19.6 in Portland (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Grants Pass
Grants Pass’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Grants Pass is Medford, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (1,934) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Grants Pass are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 23 across Oregon. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Oregon 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.
What’s behind Grants Pass’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Grants Pass is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #103 of 142 in Oregon. Job access by car holds Grants Pass’ grade up (ahead of 45% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($59,646, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Grants Pass could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Half of Grants Pass commutes less than 4 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 19% 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.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Oregon
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Grants Pass workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,105 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.
Grants Pass fills up on a workday
On a workday 7,514 residents head out to work, 7,081 work right here, and 14,430 people come in from elsewhere.
About 46,000 people are in Grants Pass on a workday afternoon, 18% 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.
13% of working residents work in Medford
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Grants Pass clocks in
13% of workers
2% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 21,511 jobs in Grants Pass are
21,511 jobs are based in Grants Pass. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Grants Pass’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Grants Pass, 2013 → 2023: 16,685 → 21,511. 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.
Grants Pass 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, Grants Pass is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #74 of 142 in Oregon. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.0% 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 16,778 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 79% 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 3.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 78% 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). 8.7% of Grants Pass households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Grants Pass’ commuters take a bus or train.
Grants Pass is 1,005th of 1,135 U.S. towns of 27,000 to 53,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Grants Pass, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Lake Oswego OR | 39,722 | $142K | 3.4% | 3.4% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 156 | Bethany OR | 33,106 | $168K | 4.0% | 4.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 427 | Happy Valley OR | 28,916 | $122K | 7.7% | 4.8% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,003 | Crestview FL | 31,193 | $65K | 11.2% | 5.8% | 19% | C |
| 1,004 | Biscayne Gardens FL | 35,472 | $55K | 22.6% | 8.6% | 2% | C |
| 1,005 | Grants Pass OR | 39,239 | $60K | 14.4% | 5.3% | 49% | C |
| 1,006 | Winchester VA | 28,272 | $64K | 21.5% | 6.4% | 29% | C |
| 1,007 | Garfield Heights OH | 28,790 | $55K | 22.0% | 8.4% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,135 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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.
Grants Pass and the towns next door
Darker towns draw more of Grants Pass’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Grants Pass workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants Pass | – | C | A | 18 min | $59,646 |
| Redwood | under 1% | C | B | 21 min | $68,125 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Grants Pass: questions
What is the median household income in Grants Pass?
$59,646 (±$5,632) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Grants Pass?
14.4%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Grants Pass?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Grants Pass work?
49% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Medford (13%, 25 mi), Roseburg (2%, 55 mi), Portland (2%, 217 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Grants Pass walkable?
Grants Pass is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.6 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Grants Pass without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Grants Pass, from the people who make the trip.
More of Grants Pass
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.