Corbett Farm · Photo: Jud McCranie · CC BY-SA 4.0Echols County has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
Jobs and income earn Echols County C+; getting around on foot earns it C+. There are 495 jobs in Echols County; 1,243 of its residents have a job. 1% of workers have no commute at all, against 16% across Georgia.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Echols County
Echols County makes and builds things
53% of the jobs based in Echols County are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Echols County residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 29%. The jobs ↓
Echols County’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Echols County is Valdosta, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 27% of working residents (340) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Most jobs in Echols County go to people who live here
Of the 495 jobs based in Echols County, 45% are held by Echols County residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Few Echols County workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 16% across Georgia. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Echols County than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Echols County fell from 725 in 2013 to 495 in 2023, −32%. 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 ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Echols County: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Echols County is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #140 of 263 in Georgia. Unemployment holds Echols County’s grade up (1.7%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 17% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Echols County could be anywhere from C− to B.
A place that makes things: 53% of Echols County’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Echols County, 2013 → 2023: 725 → 495. 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 Echols County’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Echols County
About 29% 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 daily flow of workers through Echols County
On a workday 1,022 residents head out to work, 221 work right here, and 274 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,900 people are in Echols County on a workday afternoon, 20% 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.
About 29 minutes each way for Echols County’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Echols County workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,718 commuters (the 1% 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.
27% of working residents work in Valdosta
Where Echols County clocks in
27% of workers
2% 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.
Most of Echols County commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Echols County is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns, #185 of 263 in Georgia. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Georgia, on an EPA index of 3.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,736 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). 1.9% of Echols County households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Echols County’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000, Echols County ranks 2,856th of 4,318 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | Avondale Estates GA | 3,543 | $124K | 6.3% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 278 | Ball Ground GA | 3,470 | $118K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 357 | Chattahoochee Hills GA | 3,524 | $112K | 1.1% | 3.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,854 | Pymatuning Township PA | 3,031 | $55K | 16.8% | 2.8% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,855 | Shannondale WV | 3,465 | $80K | 13.3% | 5.6% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,856 | Echols County GA | 3,685 | $59K | 14.2% | 1.7% | 18% | C+ |
| 2,857 | Elkton VA | 3,136 | $62K | 9.9% | 4.3% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,858 | Shelby NY | 4,792 | $66K | 12.5% | 4.2% | 14% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Echols County, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
Echols County and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Echols County workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Echols County | – | C+ | C+ | 29 min | $59,489 |
| Fargo | under 1% | — | — | 29 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Fargo: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Echols County’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 Echols County: questions
What is the median household income in Echols County?
$59,489 (±$12,940) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Echols County?
14.2%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Echols County?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Echols County work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Valdosta (27%, 24 mi), Lake Park (2%, 17 mi), Tifton (2%, 64 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Echols County walkable?
Echols County is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 3.5 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Echols County without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Echols County, from the people who make the trip.
More of Echols County
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.