Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 3.0Earning a living in Wheeler
Only 4% work in Wheeler; the top destination outside it is Portland (10%, 61 miles). Commuters spend 26 minutes getting to work on average, next to 23 for Oregon and 26 for the U.S. Employers in Wheeler report 131 jobs for 185 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
In and out of Wheeler on a workday
On a workday 177 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 123 people come in from elsewhere.
About 370 people are in Wheeler on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.71 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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 places Wheeler commutes to
Where Wheeler clocks in
9% 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.
In Wheeler, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wheeler, 2013 → 2023: 164 → 131. 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 Wheeler’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 26 minutes from Wheeler
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wheeler workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 151 commuters (the 23% 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 Wheeler to work
About 45% 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.
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 Wheeler: questions
What is the median household income in Wheeler?
$64,792 (±$23,000) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wheeler?
12.9%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wheeler?
26 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wheeler work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (10%, 61 mi), Tillamook (9%, 16 mi), Manzanita (8%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Wheeler without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wheeler, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wheeler
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.