More people are out of work in Oak Grove (7.4%) than in 85% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 55% of U.S. towns. Oak Grove grades B− for jobs and income and D for walkability. Commuters spend 26 minutes getting to work on average; Tennessee averages 26, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Oak Grove: the figures worth knowing
Oak Grove and Johnson City trade workers both ways
Johnson City is the top workplace for Oak Grove residents (38%) and also where the most people who work in Oak Grove come from (34% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Oak Grove is services
95% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 2% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Oak Grove is where the jobs are
Oak Grove has 3,275 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Most Oak Grove residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Oak Grove’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oak Grove is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #75 of 177 in Tennessee. The poverty rate holds Oak Grove’s grade up (7.1%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oak Grove could be anywhere from C− to A.
Where the people who work in Oak Grove live
Where Oak Grove clocks in
38% of workers
15% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Oak Grove
3,275 jobs are based in Oak Grove.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oak Grove, 2014 → 2024: 299 → 3,275. 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 Oak Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Oak Grove
On a workday 1,866 residents head out to work, 63 work right here, and 3,212 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,000 people are in Oak Grove on a workday afternoon, 29% more than live here.
1.7 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where in the region Oak Grove works
About 16% 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.
About 26 minutes to work from Oak Grove
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oak Grove workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,852 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Tennessee: 87% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Most of Oak Grove commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oak Grove is more walkable than 7% of U.S. towns, #168 of 177 in Tennessee. Both inputs place Oak Grove 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 2,158 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.5% of Oak Grove households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Oak Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Oak Grove ranks: 2,193rd of 3,938 U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Oak Hill TN | 4,581 | $216K | 1.2% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Forest Hills TN | 4,473 | $250K | 6.7% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 423 | Coopertown TN | 4,843 | $118K | 9.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,191 | Union Township PA | 3,684 | $65K | 9.7% | 1.8% | 26% | B− |
| 2,192 | Whitney SC | 3,685 | $51K | 17.6% | 2.0% | 1% | B− |
| 2,193 | Oak Grove TN | 4,626 | $72K | 7.1% | 7.4% | 3% | B− |
| 2,194 | Sleepy Eye MN | 3,461 | $67K | 7.8% | 2.7% | 36% | B− |
| 2,195 | North Baltimore OH | 3,409 | $60K | 14.0% | 2.4% | 10% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,938 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Tennessee.
38% of Oak Grove works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oak Grove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Grove | – | B− | D | 26 min | $72,143 |
| Johnson City | 38% | C | B+ | 19 min | $57,254 |
| Spurgeon | under 2% | B− | C | 20 min | $64,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Johnson City. 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 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 Oak Grove: questions
What is the median household income in Oak Grove?
$72,143 (±$26,007) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oak Grove?
7.1%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oak Grove?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oak Grove work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Johnson City (38%, 6 mi), Kingsport (15%, 9 mi), Jonesborough (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Oak Grove walkable?
Oak Grove is more walkable than 7% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oak Grove 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 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), 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.