Velma is a tiny town located in the state of Oklahoma. With a population of 571 people and just one neighborhood, Velma is the 282nd largest community in Oklahoma.
Because occupations involving physical labor dominate the local economy, Velma is generally considered to be a blue-collar town. 40.57% of the Velma workforce is employed in blue-collar occupations, compared to the national average of 27.7%. Overall, Velma is a town of transportation and shipping workers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Velma who work in office and administrative support (20.90%), management occupations (7.79%), and food service (5.74%).
It is a fairly quiet town because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Velma has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Velma has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Velma than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Velma may be for you.
Being a small town, Velma does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
The population of Velma has a very low overall level of education: only 9.11% of people over 25 hold a 4-year college degree or higher.
The per capita income in Velma in 2022 was $29,208, which is upper middle income relative to Oklahoma, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $116,832 for a family of four. However, Velma contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Velma is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Velma home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Velma residents report their race to be White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Velma include Irish, German, English, Dutch West Indian, and British.
The most common language spoken in Velma is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
Uncrowded roads, rural America and space to be the individual you are. If you like these characteristics, this neighborhood may fit you. With just 10 residents per square mile, is less crowded than 97.0% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Whether walking, biking, riding, or driving, the length of one's commute is an important factor for one's quality of life. The neighborhood stands out for its commute length, according to NeighborhoodScout's analysis. Long commutes can be brutal. They take time, money, and energy, leaving less of you for yourself and your family. The residents of the neighborhood unfortunately have the distinction of having, on average, a longer commute than most any neighborhood in America. 11.0% of commuters here travel more than one hour just one-way to work. That is more than two hours per day. This percentage with two-hour + round-trip commutes is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.4% of all neighborhoods in America.
More people work in manufacturing and as laborers here in the neighborhood than in 95.0% of the neighborhoods in America. Despite the loss of manufacturing jobs across the nation, this neighborhood remains a place where, compared to other parts of the country, you will find many laborers and manufacturers.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Native American ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 5.7% of this neighborhood's residents have Native American ancestry.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Velma are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 41.1% of the neighborhoods in America. With 12.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 54.7% of U.S. neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 41.6% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 26.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (17.7%), and 13.1% in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 99.0% of households.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Velma, OK, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (11.4%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (6.5%), and residents who report Native American roots (5.7%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (5.1%), along with some Mexican ancestry residents (3.5%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (32.5% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America. However, there is also a significant group of residents (11.0%) who commute over an hour in each direction.
Here most residents (84.3%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (8.6%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.