Henry W. Grady House · Photo: Fred D. Nichols, Photographer · Public domainCollege students make up 26% of Athens’ residents
About half work in Athens itself; outside it, Atlanta draws the most (4%, 62 miles). Athens grades C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Working residents average 21 minutes each way, where Georgia has 28 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Athens stands out on work
Commutes from Athens are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 28 across Georgia. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Georgia worker. Time on the road ↓
Athens draws workers from far and wide
The 66,202 jobs in Athens are filled from a wide area. Athens’ own residents hold 32% and the ten next-biggest home towns 6%; the other 62% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Where Athens’ Jobs & income grade comes from
On family income, poverty and job access, Athens is better than 39% of U.S. towns, #129 of 263 in Georgia. Job access by car holds Athens’ grade up (ahead of 69% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.7%, U.S. 11.9%).
Unemployment (5.2%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($82,159), since student households pull the household median down ($53,625).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Athens could be anywhere from C to B−.
From Athens, about 21 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Athens workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 55,180 commuters (the 13% 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.
Where Athens goes to work
Where Athens clocks in
4% of workers
2% of workers
1% 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.
Who leaves Athens for work, and who comes in
On a workday 24,421 residents head out to work, 21,185 work right here, and 45,017 people come in from elsewhere.
About 151,000 people are in Athens on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.45 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.
Inside Athens’ 66,202 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Athens, 2013 → 2023: 60,776 → 66,202. 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 Athens’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Athens
About 23% 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: Athens
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Athens is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #47 of 263 in Georgia. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Georgia, on an EPA index of 7.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 63,780 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). 6.3% of Athens households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Athens’ commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Athens next to U.S. towns of 91,000 to 175,000: 219th of 293 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 2 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Fishers IN | 104,812 | $130K | 4.0% | 2.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Roswell GA | 91,505 | $129K | 7.5% | 3.8% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Sandy Springs GA | 105,013 | $104K | 8.5% | 4.0% | 15% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 157 | South Fulton GA | 112,820 | $82K | 9.1% | 7.2% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 217 | Independence MO | 121,675 | $60K | 15.8% | 5.6% | 16% | C+ |
| 218 | Pompano Beach FL | 117,211 | $67K | 15.2% | 8.0% | 15% | C+ |
| 219 | Athens GA | 129,921 | $54K | 26.0% | 5.2% | 46% | C+ |
| 220 | Miami Gardens FL | 113,579 | $64K | 13.6% | 9.0% | 6% | C+ |
| 221 | Greeley CO | 115,073 | $70K | 15.1% | 5.6% | 33% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 293 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Athens, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
How Athens compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Athens workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | – | C+ | A− | 21 min | $53,625 |
| Winterville | under 1% | A | C | 24 min | $110,804 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Athens’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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.
- Students. 26% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Athens: questions
What is the median household income in Athens?
$53,625 (±$2,435) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Athens?
26.0% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 16.7%. Georgia: 13.4%.
How long is the commute from Athens?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Athens work?
46% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Atlanta (4%, 62 mi), Jefferson (2%, 18 mi), Gainesville (1%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Athens walkable?
Athens is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Athens without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Athens, from the people who make the trip.
More of Athens
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.