Work & commute · Oak

Work & commute in Oak, MN

Most working residents leave Oak for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Melrose (19%), St. Cloud (10%) and Albany (7%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

8 of 297 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 289 Oak residents head out of town to work, 8 work right here, and 84 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oak.

289live here, work elsewhere

8live and work here

84work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oak goes to work

Melrose6.7 mi away

19%56

St. Cloud26.6 mi away

10%29

Albany6.9 mi away

7%21

Waite Park23.3 mi away

4%11

Avon12.5 mi away

3%9

Millwood6.6 mi away

3%9

Sauk Centre14.5 mi away

3%8

Grove5.7 mi away

3%8

Oak (in town)right here

3%8

Freeport3.2 mi away

2%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%131

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Oak commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

42%

28%

12%

17%

42%Under 10 mi

28%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oak is a commuter town

0.31jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.31 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Oak are

92 jobs are based in Oak. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oak’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Oak

92 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)38%

Trade, transport & utilities49%

Services (health, schools, offices…)13%

$1,250 a month or less24%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Oak residents hold

297 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)47%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month66%

−27%

Jobs based in Oak, 2013 → 2023: 126 → 92. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.