Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Americus earn less than those in 96% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Americus; the top destination outside it is Albany (6%, 34 miles). Below the poverty line: 32.7% of residents; Georgia has 13.4%. For jobs and income Americus is better than 7% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Americus apart
Commutes from Americus are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 28 across Georgia. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Georgia worker. Time on the road ↓
Americus trades workers with the towns around it
Americus has about as many jobs (5,765) as working residents (5,323), but they are mostly different people: 3,876 residents leave for work each day while 4,318 people come in. Only 25% of the jobs in Americus are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
No single place dominates Americus’ commute
The biggest draw, Albany, gets only 6% of working residents, and 50% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Americus residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Americus draws workers from far and wide
The 5,765 jobs in Americus are filled from a wide area. Americus’ own residents hold 25% and the ten next-biggest home towns 12%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Fewer than half of Americus workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Americus’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 19% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Americus
Unemployment holds Americus’ grade up (5.4%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Americus could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Commuting from Americus: about 17 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Americus workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,990 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Georgia: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The daily flow of workers through Americus
On a workday 3,876 residents head out to work, 1,447 work right here, and 4,318 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.08 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Americus’ working residents head each day
Where Americus clocks in
6% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
What the 5,765 jobs in Americus are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Americus, 2013 → 2023: 6,945 → 5,765. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Americus’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Americus, by distance
About 31% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Good to walk, short on transit: Americus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Georgia, on an EPA index of 7.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,648 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 14.4% of Americus households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Americus’ commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000, and where Americus sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 176 | Holly Springs GA | 20,261 | $114K | 3.9% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 289 | Vinings GA | 14,390 | $95K | 6.2% | 2.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 359 | Flowery Branch GA | 13,110 | $104K | 6.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,063 | Eufaula AL | 12,437 | $47K | 20.4% | 5.6% | 32% | D |
| 2,064 | Martin TN | 11,060 | $43K | 26.3% | 6.4% | 34% | D |
| 2,065 | Americus GA | 15,617 | $39K | 32.7% | 5.4% | 27% | D |
| 2,066 | Douglas GA | 11,864 | $34K | 29.7% | 6.4% | 47% | D |
| 2,067 | Orangeburg SC | 13,383 | $39K | 32.6% | 11.8% | 17% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Americus, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Americus: questions
What is the median household income in Americus?
$39,176 (±$3,831) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Americus?
32.7%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Americus?
17 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Americus work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albany (6%, 34 mi), Columbus (3%, 49 mi), Vienna (3%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Americus walkable?
Americus is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Americus without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Americus, from the people who make the trip.
More of Americus
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.