Work & commute · Pocola

Work & commute in Pocola, OK

Most working residents leave Pocola for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Fort Smith (46%), Poteau (4%) and Van Buren (3%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

144 of 1,625 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,481 Pocola residents head out of town to work, 144 work right here, and 1,218 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Pocola.

1,481live here, work elsewhere

144live and work here

1,218work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Pocola goes to work

Fort Smith, AR8.7 mi away

46%750

Pocola (in town)right here

9%144

Poteau15.1 mi away

4%67

Van Buren, AR15.2 mi away

3%56

Oklahoma City172.3 mi away

3%48

Tulsa100.7 mi away

2%25

Sallisaw24 mi away

1%23

Durant139.7 mi away

1%21

Spiro8.9 mi away

1%16

Heavener26.1 mi away

1%13

Everywhere elseother towns and states

28%462

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

How far

How far Pocola commutes

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

47%

25%

24%

47%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Pocola is balanced between jobs and homes

0.84jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.84 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Pocola are

1,362 jobs are based in Pocola. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Pocola’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Pocola

1,362 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Pocola residents hold

1,625 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month49%

+10%

Jobs based in Pocola, 2013 → 2023: 1,238 → 1,362. 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.