Photo: Rivers Langley · CC BY-SA 3.0Bowdon has 0.6 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Employers in Bowdon report 557 jobs, against 997 working residents. For jobs and income Bowdon is better than 20% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (C+). Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers (Georgia 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Bowdon and work: the main findings
Fewer jobs are based in Bowdon than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Bowdon fell from 1,235 in 2013 to 557 in 2023, −55%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Bowdon
58% of Bowdon residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 30% of the jobs based in Bowdon pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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; with 997 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Bowdon’s Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Bowdon’s grade up ($65,337, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (18.4%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (2.7%) is left out: Bowdon’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Bowdon could be anywhere from D to B.
Goods, not services: 31% of the jobs in Bowdon
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bowdon, 2013 → 2023: 1,235 → 557. 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 Bowdon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Bowdon’s commute, mile by mile
About 30% 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.
How many people are in Bowdon by day
On a workday 938 residents head out to work, 59 work right here, and 498 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Bowdon on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer 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.
26% of working residents work in Carrollton
Where Bowdon clocks in
26% of workers
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.
About 27 minutes each way, about the GA average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bowdon workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 881 commuters (the 2% 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.
For most of Bowdon, work means a drive
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Georgia, on an EPA index of 5.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 895 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). 15.1% of Bowdon households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bowdon’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bowdon next to U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100: 3,984th of 5,328 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Berkeley Lake GA | 2,034 | $166K | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Fairplay GA | 1,881 | $120K | 1.6% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 200 | Isle of Hope GA | 2,053 | $105K | 1.4% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,982 | Salem NC | 2,377 | $69K | 19.1% | 7.1% | 1% | C− |
| 3,983 | Gloverville SC | 2,505 | $52K | 15.6% | 8.3% | 1% | C− |
| 3,984 | Bowdon GA | 2,298 | $65K | 18.4% | 2.7% | 6% | C− |
| 3,985 | Tilton IL | 2,537 | $56K | 17.3% | 5.9% | 6% | C− |
| 3,986 | Decatur MI | 1,646 | $62K | 19.7% | 7.3% | 9% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Bowdon, 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 Bowdon: questions
What is the median household income in Bowdon?
$65,337 (±$27,287) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bowdon?
18.4%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bowdon?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bowdon work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Carrollton (26%, 10 mi), Atlanta (6%, 50 mi), Bremen (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bowdon walkable?
Bowdon is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bowdon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bowdon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bowdon
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.