Photo: DerRichter · CC BY-SA 3.0McMinnville has higher unemployment (5.5%) than 68% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 19.6 in Portland. Jobs and income earn McMinnville C; getting around on foot earns it A+. About one in three stay in McMinnville for work; outside it, Portland is the main destination (7%, 35 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What’s behind McMinnville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, McMinnville is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #95 of 142 in Oregon. Job access by car holds McMinnville’s grade up (ahead of 49% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.0%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, McMinnville could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Who works in McMinnville, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 9,755 residents head out to work, 5,152 work right here, and 9,986 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.02 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.
Commuting out of McMinnville: the destinations
Where McMinnville clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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 McMinnville: what the 15,138 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in McMinnville, 2014 → 2024: 12,921 → 15,138. 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 McMinnville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From McMinnville, about 21 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of McMinnville workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,544 commuters (the 12% 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.
Where in the region McMinnville works
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: McMinnville
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, McMinnville is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns, #18 of 142 in Oregon. Both inputs place McMinnville 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 14,286 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 94% 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 3.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 76% 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). 6.3% of McMinnville households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of McMinnville’s commuters take a bus or train.
McMinnville is 1,076th of 1,287 U.S. towns of 24,000 to 47,000 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 118 | Lake Oswego OR | 39,722 | $142K | 3.4% | 3.4% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 188 | Bethany OR | 33,106 | $168K | 4.0% | 4.0% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 315 | West Linn OR | 26,567 | $147K | 5.5% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,074 | Salina KS | 46,094 | $62K | 13.0% | 5.2% | 63% | C |
| 1,075 | Copperas Cove TX | 40,118 | $71K | 11.4% | 7.6% | 20% | C |
| 1,076 | McMinnville OR | 34,647 | $74K | 16.0% | 5.5% | 35% | C |
| 1,077 | Woonsocket RI | 44,580 | $61K | 18.7% | 6.8% | 15% | C |
| 1,078 | Coachella CA | 45,411 | $69K | 10.2% | 9.1% | 12% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,287 | 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 McMinnville, 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 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 McMinnville: questions
What is the median household income in McMinnville?
$73,736 (±$6,654) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in McMinnville?
16.0%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from McMinnville?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in McMinnville work?
35% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (7%, 35 mi), Salem (6%, 22 mi), Newberg (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is McMinnville walkable?
McMinnville is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.6 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around McMinnville without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 28% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from McMinnville, from the people who make the trip.
More of McMinnville
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.