Photo: Ntsimp · Public domainOrem’s household incomes are higher than in 60% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income B+: better than 67% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #78 of 119 in Utah.
Walkability A: more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns · #5 of 119 in Utah.
Working residents average 20 minutes each way (Utah 22, U.S. 26). About one in five work in Orem; the top destination outside it is Provo (17%, 5 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.1 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 7.6 in Provo (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Orem
Orem trades workers with the towns around it
Orem has about as many jobs (45,600) as working residents (42,066), but they are mostly different people: 33,360 residents leave for work each day while 36,894 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Orem are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A young workforce
37% of Orem’s working residents are 29 or younger, about one in three. The jobs ↓
Orem and Provo trade workers both ways
Provo is the top workplace for Orem residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Orem come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
What’s behind Orem’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Orem is better than 67% of U.S. towns, #78 of 119 in Utah. Job access by car holds Orem’s grade up (ahead of 82% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (10.2%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Orem could be anywhere from B to A−.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 33,360 residents head out to work, 8,706 work right here, and 36,894 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.08 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What the 45,600 jobs in Orem are
45,600 jobs are based in Orem. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Orem’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Orem, 2013 → 2023: 39,995 → 45,600. 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.
17% of working residents work in Provo
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Orem clocks in
17% of workers
7% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 20 minutes each way, quicker than most of Utah
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Orem workers work from home, vs 18% across Utah. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 42,211 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across Utah: 82% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Half of Orem commutes less than 7 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Orem is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Orem is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #5 of 119 in Utah. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 6.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above the 5.0% across Utah.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 50,551 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 91% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 11% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% 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). 3.7% of Orem households have no vehicle (Utah 4.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Orem’s commuters take a bus or train.
Orem is 208th of 457 U.S. towns of 67,000 to 129,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Orem, the top three, the last and three more from Utah.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | Bethesda MD | 69,397 | $192K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 16% | A+ |
| 4 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Sandy UT | 92,386 | $112K | 5.5% | 2.6% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Lehi UT | 95,313 | $131K | 5.0% | 4.0% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 206 | Manchester NH | 116,818 | $81K | 11.2% | 3.3% | 36% | B+ |
| 207 | Plymouth MA | 67,846 | $117K | 6.8% | 5.8% | 24% | B+ |
| 208 | Orem UT | 95,214 | $83K | 10.2% | 3.9% | 21% | B+ |
| 209 | Temecula CA | 114,865 | $121K | 7.3% | 5.7% | 22% | B+ |
| 210 | Bend OR | 107,342 | $96K | 8.8% | 3.7% | 60% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 457 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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.
22% of Orem works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Provo (17%). Darker towns draw more of Orem’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
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 Orem: questions
What is the median household income in Orem?
$83,342 (±$1,708) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,166 across Utah and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Orem?
10.2%, against 8.5% across Utah and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Orem?
20 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Utah and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Orem work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Provo (17%, 5 mi), Lehi (7%, 12 mi), Salt Lake City (6%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Orem walkable?
Orem is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.1 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Orem without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 11% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Orem, from the people who make the trip.
More of Orem
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.