Work and commuting in Emerson
The average commute, 29 minutes each way, matches the Georgia norm. For jobs and income Emerson is better than 53% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (B−). There are 1,060 jobs in Emerson, against 713 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Emerson, in brief
How Emerson earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Emerson’s grade up (ahead of 68% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.5%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (8.4%) is left out: Emerson’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Emerson could be anywhere from C− to A.
The kinds of work in Emerson
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Emerson, 2013 → 2023: 375 → 1,060. 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 Emerson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Emerson
On a workday 701 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 1,048 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Emerson on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.49 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.
12% of working residents work in Cartersville
Where Emerson clocks in
9% 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.
Commuting from Emerson: about 29 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Emerson workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 571 commuters (the 19% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Emerson
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.
In Emerson, most people drive to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 704 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). 3.1% of Emerson households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Emerson’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,123rd of 5,328: where Emerson ranks among U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Berkeley Lake GA | 2,034 | $166K | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Fairplay GA | 1,881 | $120K | 1.6% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 200 | Isle of Hope GA | 2,053 | $105K | 1.4% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,121 | Belleair Bluffs FL | 2,242 | $59K | 9.5% | 4.6% | 4% | B− |
| 2,122 | Malad City ID | 2,338 | $77K | 8.2% | 1.4% | 35% | B− |
| 2,123 | Emerson GA | 2,260 | $75K | 12.5% | 8.4% | 2% | B− |
| 2,124 | Albany IN | 2,269 | $58K | 6.8% | 2.7% | 5% | B− |
| 2,125 | Noble Township IN | 1,896 | $92K | 9.8% | 4.5% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Emerson, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
Emerson and its neighbors: 12% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Emerson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emerson | – | B− | B− | 29 min | $75,250 |
| Cartersville | 12% | B | C+ | 26 min | $84,437 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Cartersville. Darker towns draw more of Emerson’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 Emerson: questions
What is the median household income in Emerson?
$75,250 (±$26,020) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Emerson?
12.5%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Emerson?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Emerson work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cartersville (12%, 4 mi), Atlanta (9%, 32 mi), Marietta (4%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Emerson walkable?
Emerson is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Emerson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Emerson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Emerson
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.