Work & commute · Oak Harbor

Work & commute in Oak Harbor, WA

About one in 4 of Oak Harbor’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Seattle (8%), Coupeville (6%) and Anacortes (4%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

23%

1,812 of 8,043 working residents

Typical commute

21 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 6,231 Oak Harbor residents head out of town to work, 1,812 work right here, and 3,532 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oak Harbor.

6,231live here, work elsewhere

1,812live and work here

3,532work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oak Harbor goes to work

Oak Harbor (in town)right here

23%1,812

Seattle48.3 mi away

8%660

Coupeville5.7 mi away

6%468

Anacortes13.5 mi away

4%323

Mount Vernon16.8 mi away

3%256

Everett30.6 mi away

3%256

Bellevue52.8 mi away

3%224

Bellingham32.6 mi away

3%207

Kent65.3 mi away

1%113

Renton59.7 mi away

1%102

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%3,622

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

How far

How far Oak Harbor commutes

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

37%

16%

24%

37%Under 10 mi

16%10–24 mi

24%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oak Harbor is a commuter town

0.66jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Oak Harbor are

5,344 jobs are based in Oak Harbor. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oak Harbor’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Oak Harbor

5,344 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month48%

Jobs Oak Harbor residents hold

8,043 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month59%

+14%

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.

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.