Oakland has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
Employers in Oakland report 88 jobs, against 488 working residents. The two grades for Oakland are B for jobs and income and D− for walkability. Only 1% work in Oakland itself; outside it, Superior draws the most (39%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Oakland stands out on work
Oakland and Superior trade workers both ways
Superior is the top workplace for Oakland residents (39%) and also where the most people who work in Oakland come from (33% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Oakland is a place people come home to
There are 88 jobs based in Oakland, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Oakland has about 800 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Oakland workers cross into Minnesota
28% of Oakland workers work outside Wisconsin, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Duluth (28%), Cloquet (2%) and Minneapolis (1%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
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; with 488 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Oakland’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Oakland is better than 65% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Oakland’s grade up (4.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 28% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (7.4%) is left out: Oakland’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Oakland could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Where Oakland goes to work
Where Oakland clocks in
39% of workers
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.
The daily commute in and out of Oakland
On a workday 483 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 83 people come in from elsewhere.
About 800 people are in Oakland on a workday afternoon, 33% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oakland, 2014 → 2024: 19 → 88. 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 Oakland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 33 minutes each way for Oakland’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oakland workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 507 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin: 86% 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.
Half of Oakland commutes less than 17 miles
About 21% 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.
For most of Oakland, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oakland is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Oakland 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 578 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.7% of Oakland households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Oakland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Oakland places 899th of 4,312 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Nashotah WI | 1,298 | $148K | 1.1% | 0.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Maple Bluff WI | 1,305 | $199K | 3.0% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Big Bend WI | 1,498 | $135K | 3.2% | 0.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 897 | Ideal Township MN | 1,291 | $108K | 3.3% | 2.7% | 3% | B |
| 898 | Bement IL | 1,462 | $76K | 7.0% | 1.3% | 9% | B |
| 899 | Oakland WI | 1,196 | $89K | 4.4% | 7.4% | 1% | B |
| 900 | Westford WI | 1,312 | $93K | 7.1% | 3.3% | <1% | B |
| 901 | Sylvan Springs AL | 1,600 | $82K | 10.7% | 3.5% | 2% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Wisconsin.
The towns around Oakland
The biggest share goes to Superior (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oakland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland | – | B | D− | 33 min | $88,828 |
| Summit | under 1% | C | D− | 37 min | $71,071 |
| Bennett | under 1% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Parkland | under 1% | B+ | C− | 37 min | $94,500 |
| Hawthorne | under 1% | B+ | C− | 35 min | $101,875 |
| Superior | 2% | A | D | 27 min | $118,194 |
| Amnicon | under 1% | B− | D | 28 min | $62,454 |
| Gordon | under 1% | — | — | 36 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Bennett and Gordon: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Oakland’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 Oakland: questions
What is the median household income in Oakland?
$88,828 (±$11,643) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oakland?
4.4%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oakland?
33 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oakland work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Superior (39%, 14 mi), Duluth (28%, 20 mi), Cloquet (2%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Oakland walkable?
Oakland is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oakland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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), 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.