Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of North Powder commutes out: there are 0.6 jobs for every working resident
There are 98 jobs in North Powder, against 173 working residents. Only 3% stay in North Powder for work; outside it, La Grande is the main destination (28%, 22 miles). Home is the office for 0% of workers (Oregon 19%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
North Powder by day and by night
On a workday 168 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 93 people come in from elsewhere.
About 430 people are in North Powder on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where North Powder’s working residents head each day
Where North Powder clocks in
28% of workers
8% 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.
The kinds of work in North Powder
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in North Powder, 2014 → 2024: 216 → 98. 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 North Powder’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from North Powder: about 18 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of North Powder workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 186 commuters (the 0% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from North Powder
About 30% 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.
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 North Powder: questions
What is the median household income in North Powder?
$52,273 (±$30,158) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in North Powder?
10.5%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from North Powder?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in North Powder work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are La Grande (28%, 22 mi), Union (8%, 13 mi), Baker City (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around North Powder without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from North Powder, from the people who make the trip.
More of North Powder
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.