Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Sisters (2.6%) than in 76% of U.S. towns
Sisters grades B for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 5.2 in Bend. About one in four work in Sisters itself; outside it, Bend draws the most (22%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Sisters apart
Sisters is where the jobs are
Sisters has 1,899 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Sisters and Bend trade workers both ways
Bend is the top workplace for Sisters residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Sisters come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Sisters has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Sisters went from 1,339 in 2013 to 1,899 in 2023, +42%. The jobs ↓
The biggest group of Sisters’ workers comes from Bend
230 of the people who work in Sisters live in Bend, 20 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Sisters 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The figures behind Sisters’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sisters is better than 63% of U.S. towns, #49 of 142 in Oregon. Unemployment holds Sisters’ grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 23% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sisters could be anywhere from C to A−.
The daily flow of workers through Sisters
On a workday 888 residents head out to work, 329 work right here, and 1,570 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,600 people are in Sisters on a workday afternoon, 23% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The daily trip into Sisters
Where Sisters clocks in
22% 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.
Jobs in Sisters: what the 1,899 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sisters, 2013 → 2023: 1,339 → 1,899. 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 Sisters’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Sisters: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sisters workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,081 commuters (the 16% 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 distance from Sisters to work
About 26% 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.
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: Sisters
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sisters is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #49 of 142 in Oregon. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.1% 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 1,292 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 80% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 80% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 63% 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). 1.1% of Sisters households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sisters’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Sisters is 1,518th of 4,618 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 215 | Hubbard OR | 3,399 | $102K | 3.6% | 1.6% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 335 | Millersburg OR | 3,583 | $125K | 5.1% | 1.5% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 759 | North Plains OR | 3,414 | $118K | 2.9% | 6.4% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,516 | Wright Township MI | 3,185 | $87K | 11.4% | 4.3% | 7% | B |
| 1,517 | Hanover Township PA | 2,382 | $82K | 8.3% | 3.3% | 5% | B |
| 1,518 | Sisters OR | 2,934 | $95K | 7.7% | 2.6% | 27% | B |
| 1,519 | Washington Township KS | 2,966 | $79K | 10.2% | 2.3% | 17% | B |
| 1,520 | Fish Lake Township MN | 2,255 | $123K | 4.3% | 5.2% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Sisters, 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 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 Sisters: questions
What is the median household income in Sisters?
$94,524 (±$14,028) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sisters?
7.7%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sisters?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sisters work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bend (22%, 20 mi), Redmond (6%, 18 mi), Portland (6%, 101 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sisters walkable?
Sisters is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sisters without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 80% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sisters, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sisters
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.