Photo: Esprqii · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Lake Oswego are higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 3.4% of residents (Oregon 11.9%). For jobs and income Lake Oswego is better than 95% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (A). Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.0 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
Where Lake Oswego stands out on work
A lot of Lake Oswego works one town over
40% of working residents work in a town that borders Lake Oswego: Portland (36%) and Tualatin (4%). Next door ↓
Most Lake Oswego residents work close to home
73% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. Only 6% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
A lot of Lake Oswego works from home
32% of Lake Oswego workers work from home, against 19% across Oregon. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Lake Oswego pay over $40,000 a year
73% of the jobs based in Lake Oswego pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Lake Oswego
Household income is its strongest input ($141,549, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lake Oswego could be anywhere from A to A+.
Near or far: the trip to work from Lake Oswego
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.
Commuting from Lake Oswego: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake Oswego workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 13,236 commuters (the 32% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Lake Oswego
23,896 jobs are based in Lake Oswego.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake Oswego, 2014 → 2024: 18,748 → 23,896. 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 Lake Oswego’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Lake Oswego, and who commutes in
On a workday 14,648 residents head out to work, 2,035 work right here, and 21,861 people come in from elsewhere.
About 47,000 people are in Lake Oswego on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.43 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
36% of working residents work in Portland
Where Lake Oswego clocks in
6% of workers
6% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Lake Oswego
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.8% 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 19,415 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 82% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 28% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 80% 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). 3.4% of Lake Oswego households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lake Oswego’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Lake Oswego is 83rd of 1,086 U.S. towns of 28,000 to 54,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Norwich Township OH | 39,547 | $131K | 6.1% | 2.5% | 8% | A |
| 82 | Dakota Ridge CO | 33,753 | $121K | 4.4% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| 83 | Lake Oswego OR | 39,722 | $142K | 3.4% | 3.4% | 12% | A |
| 84 | Wauwatosa WI | 48,649 | $101K | 5.8% | 2.1% | 17% | A |
| 85 | Bloomfield Township MI | 43,904 | $163K | 4.8% | 3.6% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 147 | Bethany OR | 33,106 | $168K | 4.0% | 4.0% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 406 | Happy Valley OR | 28,916 | $122K | 7.7% | 4.8% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 426 | Aloha OR | 52,389 | $102K | 7.8% | 4.2% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,086 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 25% | 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 Lake Oswego, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
Bordering towns draw 40% of Lake Oswego’s workers
The biggest share goes to Portland (36%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lake Oswego workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Oswego | – | A | A | 22 min | $141,549 |
| Stafford | under 2% | A | C− | 33 min | $163,155 |
| Oak Grove | under 2% | B+ | A | 25 min | $86,226 |
| Portland | 36% | B | A+ | 24 min | $90,919 |
| West Linn | under 2% | A | A− | 24 min | $146,507 |
| Tualatin | 4% | B+ | A | 21 min | $104,043 |
| Rivergrove | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Rivergrove: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lake Oswego’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 Lake Oswego: questions
What is the median household income in Lake Oswego?
$141,549 (±$6,903) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake Oswego?
3.4%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake Oswego?
22 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 32% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lake Oswego work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (36%, 9 mi), Tigard (6%, 4 mi), Beaverton (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lake Oswego walkable?
Lake Oswego is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lake Oswego without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 28% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lake Oswego, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake Oswego
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.