Photo: Mihand35 · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 1.8 jobs in Gray for every working resident, and 2,299 people commute in
Jobs and income earn Gray C+; getting around on foot earns it B+. Gray has 2,486 jobs for 1,401 working residents. About one in seven work in Gray; the top destination outside it is Macon-Bibb County (34%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Gray: the gist
Gray is where the jobs are
Gray has 2,486 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Gray and Macon-Bibb County trade workers both ways
Macon-Bibb County is the top workplace for Gray residents (34%) and also where the most people who work in Gray come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The biggest group of Gray’s workers comes from Macon-Bibb County
258 of the people who work in Gray live in Macon-Bibb County, 16 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
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 Gray
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Gray is better than 39% of U.S. towns, #128 of 263 in Georgia. The poverty rate holds Gray’s grade up (7.4%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (7.0%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Gray could be anywhere from D to A−.
Gray fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,214 residents head out to work and 187 work right here.
About 4,700 people are in Gray on a workday afternoon, 30% more than live here.
1.8 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.
The daily trip into Gray
Where Gray clocks in
34% of workers
5% 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.
Gray is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gray, 2013 → 2023: 2,281 → 2,486. 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 Gray’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 29 minutes each way for Gray’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gray workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,404 commuters (the 11% 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.
Miles to work from Gray
About 26% 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.
Few in Gray walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gray is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #68 of 263 in Georgia. Both inputs place Gray 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 1,571 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). 13.1% of Gray households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Gray’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,683rd of 4,355: where Gray ranks among U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,800
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 107 | Avondale Estates GA | 3,543 | $124K | 6.3% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 281 | Ball Ground GA | 3,470 | $118K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 359 | Chattahoochee Hills GA | 3,524 | $112K | 1.1% | 3.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,681 | Bosque Farms NM | 4,174 | $82K | 17.0% | 5.9% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,682 | Van TX | 2,993 | $69K | 8.7% | 5.5% | 15% | C+ |
| 2,683 | Gray GA | 3,567 | $73K | 7.4% | 7.0% | 13% | C+ |
| 2,684 | Monroe City MO | 2,714 | $56K | 12.7% | 0.8% | 22% | C+ |
| 2,685 | Gorham NY | 4,087 | $65K | 9.4% | 4.8% | 9% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,355 | 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 Gray, 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 Gray: questions
What is the median household income in Gray?
$73,114 (±$20,013) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gray?
7.4%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gray?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gray work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Macon-Bibb County (34%, 16 mi), Milledgeville (5%, 18 mi), Warner Robins (3%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gray walkable?
Gray is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gray without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gray, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gray
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.