Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0Douglas’ household incomes are lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
Douglas grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Below the poverty line: 29.7% of residents, where Georgia as a whole has 13.4%. Home is the office for 5% of workers, where Georgia as a whole has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Douglas: the figures worth knowing
Douglas has far more jobs than workers
Douglas has 13,177 jobs, 3.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 21,000 people are in town, 76% more than the 12,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Douglas are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 28 across Georgia. That’s about 107 hours a year less on the road than the typical Georgia worker. Time on the road ↓
Douglas draws workers from far and wide
The 13,177 jobs in Douglas are filled from a wide area. Douglas’ own residents hold 15% and the ten next-biggest home towns 8%; the other 77% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Fewer than half of Douglas workers earn over $40,000 a year
40% of Douglas’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 19% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
The figures behind Douglas’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Douglas is better than 7% of U.S. towns, #227 of 263 in Georgia. Job access by car holds Douglas’ grade up (ahead of 37% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($34,408, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Douglas could be anywhere from D− to C−.
How many people are in Douglas by day
On a workday 2,215 residents head out to work, 1,938 work right here, and 11,239 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Douglas on a workday afternoon, 76% more than live here.
3.2 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting from Douglas: about 14 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Douglas workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,295 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.
The daily trip into Douglas
Where Douglas clocks in
2% 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.
What work there is in Douglas: 13,177 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Douglas, 2013 → 2023: 11,886 → 13,177. 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 Douglas’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Douglas
About 28% 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: Douglas
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Douglas is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #42 of 263 in Georgia. Both inputs place Douglas near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,538 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). 14.3% of Douglas households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Douglas’ commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000, and where Douglas sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Tyrone GA | 8,091 | $136K | 2.4% | 1.3% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 336 | Vinings GA | 14,390 | $95K | 6.2% | 2.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 428 | Flowery Branch GA | 13,110 | $104K | 6.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,615 | Martin TN | 11,060 | $43K | 26.3% | 6.4% | 34% | D |
| 2,616 | Americus GA | 15,617 | $39K | 32.7% | 5.4% | 27% | D |
| 2,617 | Douglas GA | 11,864 | $34K | 29.7% | 6.4% | 47% | D |
| 2,618 | Orangeburg SC | 13,383 | $39K | 32.6% | 11.8% | 17% | D |
| 2,619 | Fort Valley GA | 9,220 | $50K | 29.6% | 7.4% | 17% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Douglas, 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 Douglas: questions
What is the median household income in Douglas?
$34,408 (±$5,028) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Douglas?
29.7%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Douglas?
14 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Douglas work?
47% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Valdosta (2%, 52 mi), Waycross (2%, 36 mi), Jacksonville (1%, 107 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Douglas walkable?
Douglas is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Douglas without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Douglas, from the people who make the trip.
More of Douglas
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.