Red Oak is a somewhat small city located in the state of Iowa. With a population of 5,420 people and two associated neighborhoods, Red Oak is the 73rd largest community in Iowa.

A relatively large number of people in Red Oak telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 10.97% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Red Oak is a small city, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.

The percentage of adults in Red Oak who are college-educated is close to the national average for all communities of 21.84%: 17.74% of the adults in Red Oak have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Red Oak in 2022 was $28,822, which is low income relative to Iowa, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $115,288 for a family of four. However, Red Oak contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Red Oak home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Red Oak residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Red Oak include German, English, Irish, Swedish, and Italian.

The most common language spoken in Red Oak is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.