Fort Oglethorpe Historic District · Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 3.0Fort Oglethorpe’s household incomes are lower than in 86% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 11.1% of residents (Georgia 13.4%). The two grades for Fort Oglethorpe are C for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Home is the office for 7% of workers (Georgia 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Fort Oglethorpe apart on work
Many Fort Oglethorpe workers cross into Tennessee
57% of Fort Oglethorpe workers work outside Georgia, most of them in Tennessee, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Fort Oglethorpe draws workers from far and wide
The 5,787 jobs in Fort Oglethorpe are filled from a wide area. Fort Oglethorpe’s own residents hold 6% and the ten next-biggest home towns 21%; the other 73% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
39% of Fort Oglethorpe works in Chattanooga
1,537 working residents, 39%, have their main job in Chattanooga, TN, 9.3 miles away. That’s 5 times as many as work in Fort Oglethorpe itself. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Fort Oglethorpe are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 28 across Georgia. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Georgia worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Fort Oglethorpe residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. 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.
Fort Oglethorpe’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fort Oglethorpe is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #167 of 263 in Georgia. Job access by car holds Fort Oglethorpe’s grade up (ahead of 46% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($51,867, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fort Oglethorpe could be anywhere from D to B−.
39% of working residents work in Chattanooga
Where Fort Oglethorpe clocks in
39% of workers
3% 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.
From Fort Oglethorpe, about 21 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fort Oglethorpe workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,278 commuters (the 7% 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.
Fort Oglethorpe’s commute, mile by mile
About 19% 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.
A workday in Fort Oglethorpe: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,599 residents head out to work, 332 work right here, and 5,455 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Fort Oglethorpe on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 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.
What the 5,787 jobs in Fort Oglethorpe are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fort Oglethorpe, 2013 → 2023: 5,685 → 5,787. 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 Fort Oglethorpe’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Fort Oglethorpe is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fort Oglethorpe is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns, #183 of 263 in Georgia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% 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 4,579 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). 11.0% of Fort Oglethorpe households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fort Oglethorpe’s commuters take a bus or train.
Fort Oglethorpe next to U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000: 2,028th of 2,507 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Tyrone GA | 8,091 | $136K | 2.4% | 1.3% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 310 | Vinings GA | 14,390 | $95K | 6.2% | 2.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 395 | Flowery Branch GA | 13,110 | $104K | 6.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,026 | La Cresta CA | 8,389 | $50K | 20.3% | 5.8% | 1% | C |
| 2,027 | Panthersville GA | 9,053 | $52K | 19.6% | 9.3% | 2% | C |
| 2,028 | Fort Oglethorpe GA | 10,868 | $52K | 11.1% | 5.7% | 8% | C |
| 2,029 | Delhi CA | 11,009 | $68K | 15.5% | 11.5% | 7% | C |
| 2,030 | Herrin IL | 12,268 | $60K | 14.5% | 5.9% | 17% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | 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 Fort Oglethorpe, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
The towns around Fort Oglethorpe
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fort Oglethorpe workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Oglethorpe | – | C | C+ | 21 min | $51,867 |
| Lakeview | under 1% | C | B− | 21 min | $61,405 |
| Fairview | under 1% | C+ | D | 26 min | $64,050 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fort Oglethorpe’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 Fort Oglethorpe: questions
What is the median household income in Fort Oglethorpe?
$51,867 (±$4,670) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fort Oglethorpe?
11.1%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fort Oglethorpe?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fort Oglethorpe work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chattanooga (39%, 9 mi), Dalton (4%, 19 mi), Ringgold (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fort Oglethorpe walkable?
Fort Oglethorpe is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fort Oglethorpe without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fort Oglethorpe, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fort Oglethorpe
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.