Claremore Industrial Park Commuting Study

CLAREMORE INDUSTRIAL PARK COMMUTING STUDY

On The Road Again

2 On The Road Again

Overview of Study

Every day, almost 2,000 people go to work at the

Claremore Industrial Park. The park is located in

Rogers County in Claremore, OK, north of down-

town on Oklahoma Highway 66. The park includes

companies such as Baker Hughes-Centrilift, AXH Air

Coolers, Pelco Structural, and Caseco. Employees come

from Claremore and other parts of Rogers County, but

many also commute from other places. The purpose of

this study is to examine and discuss where employees are

coming from and how long their commutes are taking.

After that, results will be summarized and applications of

this study will briefly be considered.

About the data used This study is based mainly on employee address data

supplied by top employers at the industrial park in 2013.

No personally identifiable information was included. The

initial dataset used here to taled 1,615 addresses. Geocod-

ing is the process that puts addresses on a map. Non-

physical addresses such as P.O. boxes and rural routes

cannot usually be used for geo coding. The non-usable

addresses were removed from this study, reducing the

number of addresses to 1,373. The remaining addresses

are shown on the overview map below (except for one in

Missouri and one in Norman, OK).

Overview map of commuters to the Claremore Industrial Park

Claremore Industrial Park Commuting Study 3

Heat map of commuters to the Claremore Industrial Park: 4 square mile areas

Overview map Nearly all of the commuters come from Oklahoma,

with one each living in Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri.

If one adds in the companies that did not contribute ad-

dresses to this study, the total number of employees in

the industrial park is estimated to be 1,950.

The mean (or geographic) center shows the average

location of where commuters to the park live. On the

overview map one can see that the mean center shows a

slight shift towards Tulsa away from the park. The mean

center is a few miles southwest of the industrial park and

just southwest of the Claremore city limits.

Heat map The heat map above shows the density of commuters

to the industrial park by their home locations. Each square

on the map is 2 miles wide, so the squares cover 4 square

miles each to show broad patterns (compared to the map

on the next page).

This map shows that most of the commuters come

from an area starting around the northeast corner of Rog-

ers County and across Lake Oologah southwest to Tulsa

and Broken Arrow.

Top source areas for commuters to the industrial park There appears to be three main areas with high con-

centrations of commuters, listed in order of magnitude:

1. Claremore-Verdigris-Chelsea

2. Tulsa-Broken Arrow-Catoosa

3. Owasso-Collinsville-Oologah

Other areas with important concentrations include Pryor,

Bartlesville, Inola, and Vinita.

4 On The Road Again

Commuting to the Claremore Industrial Park versus to Claremore as a whole

The next set of maps is a comparison between

commuters to the industrial park and commuters

to any workplace in the City of Claremore. The

first of these two is another industrial park heat

map, this time with a smaller cell size (one square mile) to

better compare with the Claremore City heat map.

Data sources & comparison The Claremore City related map was obtained from the

website On the Map (onthemap.ces.census.gov), which

contains maps and data about where jobs are located

and where workers live who have those jobs. On the Map

is put out by the U.S. Census Bureau, and the data refer-

enced was the most recent—2011. The jobs referenced

are primary jobs, meaning the jobs that provide the most

income in the case where a person has more than one job.

Differences between the two maps When comparing these two maps, the overall patterns

look similar with a few differences that can be seen if one

Heat map of commuters to the Claremore Industrial Park: 1 square mile areas


studies them. For example, commuters to any workplace in

Claremore are more spread about in the countryside than

commuters to the industrial park—note the black dots on

the Claremore map where there aren’t any green squares

on the industrial park map. One reason for the differences

is that the Claremore Industrial Park employee base is only

a part of the total jobs in Claremore. There are 1,373 in-

dustrial park workers represented here as opposed to the

10,917 jobs represented on the Claremore map. Also, the

industrial park map is based on the number of employees,

as opposed to the number of jobs on the Claremore map.

Another thing to note is that these two maps are based

on two different years—the industrial park data came from

2013, and the Claremore data came from 2011. Also, On

the Map job stats are based on unemployment insurance

records, so work locations are listed as where the records

are housed, and some commuters on the Claremore map

may be actually going to a workplace in a different city.

Heat map of commuters to any workplace in Claremore

6 On The Road Again

The county pie charts above show percentages for

the top counties from which commuters originate

to work at the Claremore Industrial Park and any-

where in the City of Claremore, respectively.

Commuters to the industrial park Nearly all of the commuters to the industrial park

(97%) live in Rogers County and counties that border it

such as Tulsa. See the first map on the next page, “Share

of industrial park commuters by home county”. Rogers

County has the largest percentage of commuters with

64%. Tulsa County is next with 22%, followed by Mayes

and Wagoner with 5% and 4%, respectively. About 5% of

the industrial park workers live in the remaining counties.

Commuters to any workplace in Claremore By comparison, out of commuters to any employer in

the City of Claremore, less than half live in Rogers County

at 49%, and only 18% live in Tulsa County. Mayes and

Wagoner Counties make up 5% and 4% of this group,

respectively, just as at the industrial park. Oklahoma,

Creek, and Washington Counties contribute at least 2% of

commuters each. The remaining commuters come from

counties that contribute 1% or less of the total number.

The source for this data on commuting to the City of Cla-

remore is the 2011 On the Map data.

It may seem high that 3% of Claremore workers live in

Oklahoma County, where Oklahoma City is, most of which

is 2 hours or more from Rogers County. One explanation

for this is that some employees might come to Claremore

to stay for the week while working. Another is that some

company headquarters in Claremore could have branches

in Oklahoma City, which could cause people that work at

an Oklahoma City branch to counted as working in Clare-

more. As noted before, in On the Map, employees can be

counted at the location where unemployment insurance

records are housed rather than the actual workplace.

Commuters per capita by county The map at the bottom of page 7 shows how many

commuters there are to the industrial park per thousand

residents in a county. This measure provides an idea of

what share of a county’s workforce is employed at the

Claremore Industrial Park.

As seen on the map, the industrial park’s home county

of Rogers has the most commuters per capita with about

10 per thousand residents. The next class of counties is

about ten times smaller, with about 1 per thousand resi-

dents. This class includes Craig, Mayes, and Washington

Counties. The next class contains counties with between

Rogers, 64%

Tulsa, 22%

Mayes, 5%

Wagoner, 4%

Craig, 1%

Washington, 1%

Others, 3%

Commuting by county of residenceClaremore Industrial Park

Commuters by Home CountyClaremore Commuters

by Home County

Rogers,49%

Tulsa, 18%

Mayes, 5%

Wagoner, 4%

Oklahoma, 3%

Creek, 3%

Washington, 2%

Osage, 1%

Muskogee, 1%

Cherokee, 1%

Others, 13%


about a third and three-

fourths of one commuter

per thousand residents.

This class contains four

counties: Nowata, Osage,

Tulsa, and Wagoner.

Among these the most

notable is Tulsa County,

with just 0.51 commuters

per thousand residents.

Although Tulsa County

contributes 22% of the

industrial park workforce,

that amount is just a

small part of Tulsa Coun-

ty’s labor pool due to its

large population. Finally,

several outlying counties

have 0.16 commuters per

thousand or less working

at the industrial park. Share of industrial park commuters by county

Industrial park commuters per thousand residents by county

Rogers,49%

Tulsa, 18%

Mayes, 5%

Wagoner, 4%

Oklahoma, 3%

Creek, 3%

Washington, 2%

Osage, 1%

Muskogee, 1%

Cherokee, 1%

Others, 13%

8 On The Road Again

Commute time comparisons: local and national

Drive time map of commuters to the Claremore Industrial Park

The above drive time map shows Claremore In-

dustrial Park commuters superimposed on areas

that represent the shortest drive time from each

commuter’s residence to the industrial park.

Commuters that can get to the industrial park in less

than 15 minutes include those in and around Claremore,

Verdigris, and Foyil. Those that are 15-29 minutes away

include areas in and around Oologah, Collinsville, Owasso,


northeast Tulsa, Inola, Pryor, and Chelsea. Those 30-44

minutes away are mostly in Tulsa, Sand Springs, Broken

Arrow, Vinita, Nowata, and Skiatook. The areas in the 45-

59 minutes band are mostly rural except for Glenpool and

Sapulpa. Just outside of an hour’s drive time are Bartles-

ville, Tahlequah, and Muskogee. The drive time map data

was used to calculate the industrial park commute time

percentages on the comparisons bar chart above.

The commute time comparisons chart shows percent-

ages of various commute times for workers at the Indus-

trial Park and in Rogers County, Tulsa County, and the U.S.

as a whole. The data for the chart for the industrial park

came from our survey as mentioned above. The data for

Rogers County, Tulsa County, and the U.S. came from the

American Community Survey 1-year estimates for 2012.

Commuting times to the industrial park Referring to the chart, 46% of industrial park workers

drive less than 15 minutes, and 77% drive less than 30

minutes. Only 23% have a commute of over 30 minutes,

and only 5% drive more than 45 minutes. So a large per-

centage of industrial park workers have reasonable drive

times. This is especially apparent when compared to the

U.S. average, as is discussed next.

Industrial park vs. the U.S. average To compare with the U.S., workers at the Claremore

Industrial Park generally have shorter commutes than the

average American. The most striking statistic is that only

28% of Americans as a whole drive less than 15 min-

utes to work, as opposed to 46% for the industrial park.

Moreover, only 64% of Americans commute for less than

30 minutes as compared to 77% with the industrial park.

Also, 36% of Americans have a commute time of over 30

minutes, and 16% drive 45 minutes or more.

Commuting times to Rogers County The drive times for Rogers County residents were

mostly between those of the industrial park and the U.S.

average, but tended to be closer to the U.S. average. Only

32% of Rogers County workers drive less than 15 minutes,

but 70% drive less than 30 minutes. Also, 30% of commut-

ers have a drive time of over 30 minutes, and 12% of them

drive 45 minutes or more.

Industrial park vs. Tulsa County Comparing the Claremore Industrial Park with Tulsa

County, the percentages are very similar except that

the Claremore Industrial Park has more commuters with

under 15 minute commutes, while Tulsa County has more

15-29 minute commuters. In fact, in these two categories,

the percentages are almost reversed for the industrial

park and Tulsa. Only 32% of Tulsa County workers drive

less than 15 minutes, but 74% drive less than 30 minutes.

Also, 26% have a commute of over 30 minutes, and only

8% drive more than 45 minutes.

46%

31%

18%

3% 2%

32%

38%

18%

7%

5%

29%

46%

18%

4% 4%

28%

36%

20%

8% 8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

0-14 minutes 15-29 minutes 30-44 minutes 45-59 minutes 60+ minutes

Commute Time Comparisons

Claremore Industrial Park Rogers County Tulsa County United States

10 On The Road Again

Commuters to the industrial park by city of residence

Commuters to the Claremore

Industrial Park come from a

variety of cities, as can be seen

from the map and chart on this

page. Claremore stands alone at the top

with 680 workers and a share of 49%.

Tulsa is next with 157 workers and an

11% share. Of the rest, the most signifi-

cant are Broken Arrow, Chelsea, Owas-

so, Collinsville, and Pryor, each having a

share of between 2 and 7 percent. Tulsa

and Broken Arrow, when taken together,

provide 18% of the industrial park

workforce. Other areas with significant

contingents include places as far away

as Bartlesville, Sand Springs, Coweta,

Salina, and Vinita.

Industrial park commuters by city of residence: top 20 cities

What Cities Commuters Come From

Claremore49%

Tulsa, 11%

Broken Arrow7%

Chelsea6%

Owasso5%

Collinsville4%

Pryor2%

Oologah2%

Inola2%

Others, 12%

What Cities Commuters Come From


Commuters to the industrial park by city of residence

In summary, the Claremore Industrial Park contrib-

utes a large number of quality jobs to people who

live in Rogers County and surrounding areas. Most

of the industrial park workers live in areas clus-

tered around Claremore, Tulsa, and Owasso. Rogers

County contributes 64% of the industrial park’s work-

force, while Claremore contributes 49%. Although

Tulsa County contributes almost a fourth of the park’s

workforce, that number of workers is only a small part

Tulsa County’s workforce.

Workers at the industrial park tend to enjoy short-

er drive times compared to the U.S. average. Workers

at establishments anywhere in Rogers County have

commutes that are a little shorter on average than

workers at Tulsa County establishments. Industrial

park employees are concentrated mostly in a few cit-

ies. In particular, 72% of the park’s workforce comes

from the top four cities of Claremore, Tulsa, Broken

Arrow, and Chelsea.

Where to go from here? Possible applications of this study include local

and regional planning, business planning, tourism, and

economic development.

One application of this study relates to assessing

the image of Claremore with respect to community

branding. This branding includes two main functions:

1. To encapsulate what is special about the Clare-

more experience so more people will want to

live, work, play, and shop here

2. To develop an esprit de corps among current

residents so they are better able to appreciate

and articulate what is great about the area

Nearly half of Claremore Industrial Park workers make

their home in Claremore, and almost two-thirds live in

Rogers County. Therefore, one could make the case

that there is a level of satisfaction with the communi-

ty as a place to live for people who work here. Howev-

er, should that number be higher? Could Claremore be

made more attractive as a place to live for the people

who commute here from other places, and could it

be done without compromising what is great about

Claremore? Answering those questions will be left to

those who wish to pursue the matter further.

What’s down the road?

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Claremore Industrial Park Commuting Study

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Transcript of Claremore Industrial Park Commuting Study