With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Oak Island works elsewhere
0% of workers work from home (Texas 14%). Employers in Oak Island report 50 jobs; 138 of its residents have a job. Hardly any work in Oak Island itself; outside it, Houston draws the most (28%, 43 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The workday shuffle in and out of Oak Island
On a workday 137 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 49 people come in from elsewhere.
About 270 people are in Oak Island on a workday afternoon, 25% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Oak Island: the destinations
Where Oak Island clocks in
28% 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.
72% of the jobs in Oak Island pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oak Island, 2014 → 2024: 76 → 50. 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 Island’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Oak Island
of Oak Island workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 62 commuters (the 0% who work from home are left out). Across Texas: 83% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Oak Island
About 28% 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.
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 Island: questions
What is the median household income in Oak Island?
$55,054 (±$35,364) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oak Island?
41.0%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Oak Island work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (28%, 43 mi), Mont Belvieu (7%, 17 mi), Anahuac (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Oak Island 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 Island, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oak Island
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.