Work & commute · Tulsa

Work & commute in Tulsa, OK

61% of Tulsa’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Broken Arrow (6%), Oklahoma City (6%) and Bixby (2%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

61%

99,684 of 162,207 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 62,523 Tulsa residents head out of town to work, 99,684 work right here, and 151,807 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Tulsa.

62,523live here, work elsewhere

99,684live and work here

151,807work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Tulsa goes to work

Tulsa (in town)right here

61%99,684

Broken Arrow9 mi away

6%9,601

Oklahoma City101.2 mi away

6%9,111

Bixby12.7 mi away

2%2,619

Jenks9.8 mi away

2%2,558

Catoosa8.2 mi away

2%2,527

Owasso11.6 mi away

2%2,455

Sapulpa15 mi away

1%1,782

Sand Springs12.5 mi away

1%1,422

Stillwater65.4 mi away

1%1,116

Everywhere elseother towns and states

18%29,332

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

How far

How far Tulsa commutes

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

71%

14%

13%

71%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

2%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Tulsa is a job hub

1.55jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Tulsa are

251,491 jobs are based in Tulsa. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Tulsa’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Tulsa

251,491 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Tulsa residents hold

162,207 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month52%

+1%

Jobs based in Tulsa, 2013 → 2023: 249,414 → 251,491. 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.