Twin Oaks Community

Key facts

• Country: USA
• Region: Virginia
• Founded: 1967
• Members: 100
• Land size: 485 acres
• Governance model: Direct democracy with rotating leadership roles
• Economy model: Complete income-sharing with communal labor system
• Ownership model: Collective property ownership through non-profit corporation
• Status: active
• Website: https://www.twinoaks.org

About

Income-sharing egalitarian community with collective labor system and direct democracy

Full description

Twin Oaks Community, founded in 1967, is one of America's oldest and most established secular intentional communities, practicing income-sharing and egalitarian governance. Located on 450 acres in rural Virginia, the community operates as a collective where all income is shared, labor is distributed through a credit system, and major decisions are made democratically. Members work in community businesses (including hammock manufacturing and tofu production) as well as shared domestic labor. Twin Oaks has developed sophisticated systems for conflict resolution, labor distribution, and resource allocation that have sustained the community for over five decades. The community serves as a living example of cooperative economics and non-hierarchical organization.