Photo: Hans J E from Lawrenceville, US · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Duluth earn more than those in 73% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.2 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 22.2 in Atlanta. Poverty touches 8.9% of residents, next to 13.4% for Georgia as a whole. Jobs and income earn Duluth B+; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Duluth: the figures worth knowing
Duluth trades workers with the towns around it
Duluth has about as many jobs (16,409) as working residents (14,162), but they are mostly different people: 13,400 residents leave for work each day while 15,647 people come in. Only 5% of the jobs in Duluth are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Duluth draws workers from far and wide
The 16,409 jobs in Duluth are filled from a wide area. Duluth’s own residents hold 5% and the ten next-biggest home towns 16%; the other 79% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Duluth’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Duluth is Atlanta, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (1,817) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Duluth
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Duluth is better than 70% of U.S. towns, #50 of 263 in Georgia. Job access by car holds Duluth’s grade up (ahead of 94% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Duluth could be anywhere from B to A.
The daily commute in and out of Duluth
On a workday 13,400 residents head out to work, 762 work right here, and 15,647 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 (1.16 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.
13% of working residents work in Atlanta
Where Duluth clocks in
13% of workers
5% 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.
How far it is to work from Duluth
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.
What Duluth’s employers do
16,409 jobs are based in Duluth.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Duluth, 2013 → 2023: 13,145 → 16,409. 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 Duluth’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 30 minutes from Duluth
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Duluth workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,119 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Duluth
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Duluth is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #56 of 263 in Georgia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.0% 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 17,709 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 8% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 44% 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). 5.3% of Duluth households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Duluth’s commuters take a bus or train.
Duluth is 622nd of 1,255 U.S. towns of 24,000 to 46,000 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 56 | Milton GA | 41,266 | $171K | 4.3% | 2.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 245 | Decatur GA | 25,276 | $139K | 6.2% | 4.3% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 269 | Woodstock GA | 39,895 | $103K | 6.6% | 2.7% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 620 | West Melbourne FL | 31,285 | $93K | 7.3% | 4.5% | 7% | B+ |
| 621 | Roseville MN | 35,663 | $87K | 7.5% | 5.9% | 9% | B+ |
| 622 | Duluth GA | 33,815 | $95K | 8.9% | 5.6% | 5% | B+ |
| 623 | Delhi Township OH | 28,968 | $91K | 8.5% | 4.2% | 7% | B+ |
| 624 | Carrollwood FL | 36,725 | $82K | 8.4% | 4.5% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,255 | 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 Duluth, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
Next door to Duluth
The biggest share goes to Peachtree Corners (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Duluth workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duluth | – | B+ | A− | 30 min | $95,331 |
| Berkeley Lake | under 2% | A+ | B− | 26 min | $165,909 |
| Peachtree Corners | 4% | A− | A− | 26 min | $82,139 |
| Suwanee | 2% | B+ | B− | 30 min | $103,260 |
| Johns Creek | 3% | A | B | 30 min | $160,093 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Duluth’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 Duluth: questions
What is the median household income in Duluth?
$95,331 (±$7,111) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Duluth?
8.9%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Duluth?
30 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Duluth work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Atlanta (13%, 23 mi), Alpharetta (6%, 8 mi), Sandy Springs (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Duluth walkable?
Duluth is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Duluth without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Duluth, from the people who make the trip.
More of Duluth
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.