John F. and John H. Broetje House · Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 3.0Oak Grove has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 19.6 in Portland. There are 4,089 jobs in Oak Grove; 7,619 of its residents have a job. Oak Grove grades B+ for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Oak Grove apart on work
Most Oak Grove residents work close to home
71% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 6% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Oak Grove and Portland trade workers both ways
Portland is the top workplace for Oak Grove residents (39%) and also where the most people who work in Oak Grove come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Oak Grove’s working residents have a job less than 7 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 25 minutes, longer than the Oregon average of 23. Time on the road ↓
A lot of Oak Grove works from home
28% of Oak Grove workers work from home, against 19% across Oregon. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Oak Grove
68% of Oak Grove residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 49% of the jobs based in Oak Grove pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Oak Grove
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oak Grove is better than 65% of U.S. towns, #46 of 142 in Oregon. Job access by car holds Oak Grove’s grade up (ahead of 83% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oak Grove could be anywhere from B− to A.
How far it is to work from Oak Grove
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.
39% of working residents work in Portland
Where Oak Grove clocks in
4% of workers
4% 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.
About 25 minutes each way, longer than most of Oregon
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oak Grove workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,991 commuters (the 28% 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.
The kinds of work in Oak Grove
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oak Grove, 2013 → 2023: 3,583 → 4,089. 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 Oak Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Oak Grove
On a workday 7,316 residents head out to work, 303 work right here, and 3,786 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Oak Grove on a workday afternoon, 21% 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 2023, primary jobs.
Oak Grove 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, Oak Grove is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #48 of 142 in Oregon. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.3% 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 8,301 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 54% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 90% 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). 6.7% of Oak Grove households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Oak Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Oak Grove is 988th among 1,999 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 401 | Sherwood OR | 20,535 | $110K | 4.3% | 3.5% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 763 | Canby OR | 18,004 | $101K | 7.9% | 4.0% | 15% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 826 | Oatfield OR | 13,294 | $103K | 9.8% | 4.4% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 986 | Midway FL | 21,317 | $96K | 6.9% | 3.4% | 8% | B+ |
| 987 | Muhlenberg Township PA | 22,504 | $88K | 7.6% | 5.8% | 12% | B+ |
| 988 | Oak Grove OR | 16,796 | $86K | 8.4% | 5.3% | 4% | B+ |
| 989 | Forest Park IL | 13,829 | $77K | 11.6% | 4.5% | 5% | B+ |
| 990 | Upper Grand Lagoon FL | 17,232 | $82K | 8.1% | 2.6% | 13% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | 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 Oak Grove, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
The towns around Oak Grove
The biggest share goes to Milwaukie (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oak Grove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Grove | – | B+ | A | 25 min | $86,226 |
| Milwaukie | 4% | B+ | A+ | 26 min | $86,892 |
| Lake Oswego | 2% | A | A | 22 min | $141,549 |
| Oatfield | under 3% | B+ | A− | 26 min | $103,224 |
| West Linn | under 3% | A | A− | 24 min | $146,507 |
| Jennings Lodge | under 3% | B | A+ | 25 min | $71,054 |
| Dunthorpe | under 3% | A+ | A | 22 min | $250,000+ |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Oak Grove’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 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 Oak Grove: questions
What is the median household income in Oak Grove?
$86,226 (±$6,534) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oak Grove?
8.4%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oak Grove?
25 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oak Grove work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (39%, 9 mi), Milwaukie (4%, 2 mi), Tigard (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oak Grove walkable?
Oak Grove is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.4 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oak Grove without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 54% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oak Grove, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oak Grove
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.