Photo: AtlChampion · CC BY-SA 4.0Atlanta has 2.4 jobs for every working resident: 419,847 people commute in to work
About two in five stay in Atlanta for work; outside it, Sandy Springs is the main destination (6%, 12 miles). Atlanta has 513,609 jobs for 218,042 working residents. Working from home is the commute for 30% of workers; Georgia has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Atlanta
Atlanta is where the jobs are
Atlanta has 513,609 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 825,000 people are in town, 56% more than the 529,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Atlanta works from home
30% of Atlanta workers work from home, against 16% across Georgia. Time on the road ↓
Atlanta draws workers from far and wide
The 513,609 jobs in Atlanta are filled from a wide area. Atlanta’s own residents hold 18% and the ten next-biggest home towns 14%; the other 68% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Most jobs in Atlanta pay over $40,000 a year
72% of the jobs based in Atlanta pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Nearly all the work in Atlanta is services
86% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. 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 Atlanta earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Atlanta is better than 54% of U.S. towns, #91 of 263 in Georgia. Job access by car holds Atlanta’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.9%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Atlanta could be anywhere from B− to B.
Who works in Atlanta, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 124,280 residents head out to work and 93,762 work right here.
About 825,000 people are in Atlanta on a workday afternoon, 56% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How long Atlanta spends getting to work: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Atlanta workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 191,255 commuters (the 30% 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 Atlanta’s workforce comes from
Where Atlanta 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Atlanta
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Atlanta, 2013 → 2023: 424,284 → 513,609. 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 Atlanta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Atlanta, by distance
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.
Atlanta is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 271,965 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 95% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 51% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 22.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 98% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 14.2% of Atlanta households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 8% of Atlanta’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Among U.S. towns of 370,000 to 714,000, Atlanta ranks 15th of 31 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brookhaven NY | 496,410 | $120K | 7.0% | 5.2% | 32% | A− |
| 2 | Virginia Beach VA | 453,737 | $93K | 8.6% | 4.0% | 47% | A− |
| 3 | Mesa AZ | 513,656 | $83K | 10.3% | 4.2% | 24% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Arlington TX | 402,134 | $75K | 12.9% | 5.7% | 22% | B− |
| 14 | Sacramento CA | 536,449 | $87K | 13.9% | 6.6% | 39% | B− |
| 15 | Atlanta GA | 529,110 | $86K | 16.9% | 5.9% | 43% | B− |
| 16 | Tampa FL | 413,554 | $75K | 15.5% | 4.9% | 42% | B− |
| 17 | Kansas City MO | 521,220 | $69K | 14.6% | 4.4% | 48% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Detroit MI | 649,095 | $40K | 32.7% | 14.0% | 31% | C− |
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 Atlanta, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
The towns next door employ 10% of Atlanta
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Atlanta workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | – | B− | A+ | 27 min | $85,652 |
| Druid Hills | under 2% | A | A+ | 25 min | $130,139 |
| South Fulton | 2% | B | B+ | 33 min | $82,324 |
| Sandy Springs | 6% | A− | A | 26 min | $104,340 |
| North Druid Hills | under 2% | A | A+ | 23 min | $102,742 |
| East Point | 1% | C+ | A | 30 min | $68,598 |
| Candler-McAfee | under 2% | C+ | A | 33 min | $64,699 |
| Hapeville | under 2% | B+ | A | 23 min | $95,714 |
| Belvedere Park | under 2% | B− | A | 30 min | $65,462 |
| Decatur | under 2% | A | A+ | 26 min | $139,397 |
| Vinings | 1% | A | A | 24 min | $94,982 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Sandy Springs. Darker towns draw more of Atlanta’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.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Atlanta: questions
What is the median household income in Atlanta?
$85,652 (±$1,846) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Atlanta?
16.9%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Atlanta?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 30% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Atlanta work?
43% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sandy Springs (6%, 12 mi), College Park (3%, 9 mi), Alpharetta (2%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Atlanta walkable?
Atlanta is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.5 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Atlanta without a car?
8% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. 51% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Atlanta, from the people who make the trip.
More of Atlanta
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.