Photo: Cantonga · CC BY-SA 4.0Canton at work: jobs, income and the commute
About one in ten work in Canton; the top destination outside it is Atlanta (8%, 34 miles). For jobs and income Canton is better than 53% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (B−). The trip to work takes 27 minutes on average, next to 28 for Georgia and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Canton and work: the main findings
Canton draws workers from far and wide
The 17,315 jobs in Canton are filled from a wide area. Canton’s own residents hold 10% and the ten next-biggest home towns 11%; the other 79% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
No single place dominates Canton’s commute
The biggest draw, Atlanta, gets only 8% of working residents, and 58% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Canton residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Canton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Canton is Atlanta, 34 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (1,114) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Canton has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Canton went from 12,427 in 2013 to 17,315 in 2023, +39%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Canton gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Job access by car holds Canton’s grade up (ahead of 73% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.9%, 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, Canton could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
The places Canton commutes to
Where Canton clocks in
8% of workers
4% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Canton
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.
The kinds of work in Canton
17,315 jobs are based in Canton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Canton, 2013 → 2023: 12,427 → 17,315. 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 Canton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Canton, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 12,282 residents head out to work, 1,670 work right here, and 15,645 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 (1.24 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.
The daily trip from Canton: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Canton workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 13,561 commuters (the 20% 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.
Few in Canton walk, bike or ride to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.1% across Georgia.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 16,881 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). 5.1% of Canton households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Canton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 29,000 to 55,000, Canton ranks 679th of 1,019 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Dunwoody GA | 51,792 | $122K | 6.1% | 1.9% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Milton GA | 41,266 | $171K | 4.3% | 2.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 207 | Woodstock GA | 39,895 | $103K | 6.6% | 2.7% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 677 | Sahuarita AZ | 37,694 | $105K | 8.6% | 6.4% | 11% | B− |
| 678 | Oakland Park FL | 45,332 | $73K | 12.1% | 5.8% | 7% | B− |
| 679 | Canton GA | 40,778 | $80K | 12.9% | 4.7% | 12% | B− |
| 680 | Wayne Township IN | 29,702 | $72K | 12.7% | 2.8% | 40% | B− |
| 681 | Wildomar CA | 37,889 | $104K | 10.6% | 7.7% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,019 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Canton, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
How Canton compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Holly Springs (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Canton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canton | – | B− | B− | 27 min | $80,091 |
| Holly Springs | 2% | A+ | C+ | 33 min | $113,992 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Canton’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 Canton: questions
What is the median household income in Canton?
$80,091 (±$6,689) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Canton?
12.9%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Canton?
27 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Canton work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Atlanta (8%, 34 mi), Alpharetta (4%, 17 mi), Sandy Springs (4%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Canton walkable?
Canton is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Canton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Canton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Canton
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.