Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki (thomasmachnitzki.com) · CC BY 3.0Memphis draws about half of Oakland’s working residents
Measured by household income, Oakland is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Oakland is better than 80% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (C). Only 4% stay in Oakland for work; outside it, Memphis is the main destination (49%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Oakland, in a few figures
Nearly half of Oakland works in Memphis
2,256 working residents, 49%, have their main job in Memphis, 26 miles away. That’s 12 times as many as work in Oakland itself. The commute map ↓
Oakland workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 26 across Tennessee. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Oakland has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Oakland went from 1,149 in 2013 to 1,699 in 2023, +48%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Oakland
65% of Oakland residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 46% of the jobs based in Oakland pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
33% of the jobs based in Oakland are held by workers 29 or younger, against 22% of Oakland’s own working residents. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind Oakland’s grade
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Oakland’s grade. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oakland could be anywhere from B to A.
Where Oakland goes to work
Where Oakland clocks in
49% of workers
7% 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.
How long Oakland spends getting to work: about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oakland workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,558 commuters (the 13% 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.
What work there is in Oakland: 1,699 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oakland, 2013 → 2023: 1,149 → 1,699. 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 Oakland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Oakland
On a workday 4,441 residents head out to work, 172 work right here, and 1,527 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,900 people are in Oakland on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
0.37 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.
How many miles Oakland commutes
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.
In Oakland, the car does most of the work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.0% across Tennessee, on an EPA index of 5.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,215 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). 4.0% of Oakland households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Oakland’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Oakland ranks: 766th of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 197 | Signal Mountain TN | 8,824 | $141K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 207 | Lakeland TN | 14,422 | $116K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 317 | Harrison TN | 8,011 | $89K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 764 | Rio del Mar CA | 9,201 | $160K | 2.3% | 5.7% | 6% | A− |
| 765 | Bogota NJ | 9,816 | $103K | 4.6% | 7.1% | 3% | A− |
| 766 | Oakland TN | 10,835 | $98K | 5.8% | 3.3% | 4% | A− |
| 767 | North Branford CT | 13,551 | $108K | 3.8% | 5.9% | 10% | A− |
| 768 | Lisbon ME | 9,919 | $78K | 5.3% | 1.8% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Oakland, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
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 Oakland: questions
What is the median household income in Oakland?
$97,798 (±$8,810) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oakland?
5.8%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oakland?
35 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oakland work?
4% work in town.
Is Oakland walkable?
Oakland is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oakland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oakland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oakland
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.