McCarty Subdivision Historic District · Photo: GamblinMonkey · Public domainDalton has 2.4 jobs for every working resident: 29,244 people commute in to work
Home is the office for 5% of workers; Georgia has 16%. There are 34,623 jobs in Dalton; 14,302 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Dalton C+; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Dalton stands out on work
Dalton is where the jobs are
Dalton has 34,623 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 56,000 people are in town, 58% more than the 35,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Dalton draws workers from far and wide
The 34,623 jobs in Dalton are filled from a wide area. Dalton’s own residents hold 16% and the ten next-biggest home towns 8%; the other 76% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Dalton are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 28 across Georgia. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Georgia worker. Time on the road ↓
Dalton makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in Dalton are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Dalton residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 38%. 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.
Inside Dalton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dalton is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #136 of 263 in Georgia. Job access by car holds Dalton’s grade up (ahead of 65% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (18.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dalton could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The daily commute in and out of Dalton
On a workday 8,923 residents head out to work and 5,379 work right here.
About 56,000 people are in Dalton on a workday afternoon, 58% 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.
Who travels to work in Dalton, and from where
Where Dalton clocks in
5% of workers
2% 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 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Georgia
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dalton workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,547 commuters (the 5% 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.
A place that makes things: 35% of Dalton’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dalton, 2013 → 2023: 35,622 → 34,623. 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 Dalton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Dalton
About 20% 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.
The commute in Dalton is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dalton is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #164 of 263 in Georgia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% 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 16,323 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). 8.0% of Dalton households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dalton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Dalton places 992nd of 1,219 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 25,000 to 48,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Milton GA | 41,266 | $171K | 4.3% | 2.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 231 | Decatur GA | 25,276 | $139K | 6.2% | 4.3% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 258 | Woodstock GA | 39,895 | $103K | 6.6% | 2.7% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 990 | Beloit WI | 36,649 | $63K | 15.0% | 5.3% | 28% | C+ |
| 991 | North Highlands CA | 47,957 | $65K | 19.6% | 6.3% | 6% | C+ |
| 992 | Dalton GA | 35,322 | $64K | 18.6% | 4.3% | 38% | C+ |
| 993 | Athens Township OH | 31,531 | $49K | 33.0% | 7.8% | 36% | C+ |
| 994 | Greenville TX | 37,069 | $63K | 11.5% | 5.7% | 28% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,219 | 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 Dalton, 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 Dalton: questions
What is the median household income in Dalton?
$63,577 (±$5,546) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dalton?
18.6%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dalton?
18 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dalton work?
38% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chattanooga (5%, 26 mi), Calhoun (3%, 19 mi), Atlanta (2%, 76 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dalton walkable?
Dalton is more walkable than 46% 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 Dalton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dalton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dalton
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.