Olean is a medium-sized city located in the state of New York. With a population of 13,650 people and four associated neighborhoods, Olean is the 137th largest community in New York. Olean has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 8.49% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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.

Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Olean spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 17.07 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.

The overall education level of Olean citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 29.13% of adults in Olean have at least a bachelor's degree, and the average American community has 21.84%.

The per capita income in Olean in 2022 was $29,654, which is low income relative to New York, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $118,616 for a family of four. However, Olean contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

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

The most common language spoken in Olean is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Arabic.