Photo: brewbooks · CC BY-SA 2.0More people are out of work in Oak Harbor (5.4%) than in 67% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.3 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 94.7 in Seattle. Oak Harbor grades C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. 6% of workers work from home (Washington 20%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Oak Harbor, in brief
Oak Harbor’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Oak Harbor is Seattle, 48 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (660) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Oak Harbor are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 27 across Washington. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Washington worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
How Oak Harbor earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oak Harbor is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #227 of 285 in Washington. The poverty rate holds Oak Harbor’s grade up (8.3%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 19% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oak Harbor could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Short hops and long hauls from Oak Harbor
About 24% 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.
How long Oak Harbor spends getting to work: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oak Harbor workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,017 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Washington: 79% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Oak Harbor on a workday afternoon
On a workday 6,231 residents head out to work, 1,812 work right here, and 3,532 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Oak Harbor on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.66 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.
8% of working residents work in Seattle
Where Oak Harbor clocks in
8% of workers
6% 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.
Inside Oak Harbor’s 5,344 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oak Harbor, 2013 → 2023: 4,671 → 5,344. 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 Oak Harbor’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Oak Harbor, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oak Harbor is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #126 of 285 in Washington. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.9% across Washington.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 11,685 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 86% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 35% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 77% 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). 5.4% of Oak Harbor households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Oak Harbor’s commuters take a bus or train.
Oak Harbor is 1,292nd of 1,642 U.S. towns of 17,000 to 33,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Mercer Island WA | 25,422 | $219K | 3.8% | 3.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Bothell West WA | 22,029 | $153K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 182 | Cottage Lake WA | 22,518 | $213K | 3.2% | 4.1% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,290 | Burlington IA | 23,336 | $59K | 13.2% | 3.9% | 40% | C+ |
| 1,291 | Staunton VA | 26,801 | $66K | 12.4% | 5.3% | 23% | C+ |
| 1,292 | Oak Harbor WA | 24,083 | $76K | 8.3% | 5.4% | 23% | C+ |
| 1,293 | Brenham TX | 19,957 | $65K | 18.9% | 3.5% | 36% | C+ |
| 1,294 | Hays KS | 21,258 | $58K | 20.1% | 3.6% | 63% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,642 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Harbor, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
Oak Harbor and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oak Harbor workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Harbor | – | C+ | A− | 18 min | $76,084 |
| Whidbey Island Station | under 2% | C− | A+ | 7 min | $45,625 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Oak Harbor’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 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 Oak Harbor: questions
What is the median household income in Oak Harbor?
$76,084 (±$2,803) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oak Harbor?
8.3%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oak Harbor?
18 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oak Harbor work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (8%, 48 mi), Coupeville (6%, 6 mi), Anacortes (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oak Harbor walkable?
Oak Harbor is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oak Harbor without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 35% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oak Harbor, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oak Harbor
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.