Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Hamilton’s household incomes are higher than in 70% of U.S. towns
Hamilton grades B− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. The poverty rate is 11.4%, against 13.4% across Georgia. Only 5% stay in Hamilton for work; outside it, Columbus is the main destination (37%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Hamilton at work: what stands out
The figures behind Hamilton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Hamilton is better than 54% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Hamilton’s grade up ($92,083, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (6.9%) is left out: Hamilton’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, Hamilton could be anywhere from C to A−.
Where people from Hamilton work
Where Hamilton clocks in
37% of workers
5% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Hamilton
On a workday 707 residents head out to work, 35 work right here, and 570 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 (0.82 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 work there is in Hamilton: 605 jobs
605 jobs are based in Hamilton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hamilton, 2013 → 2023: 670 → 605. 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 Hamilton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Hamilton spends getting to work: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hamilton workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 789 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.
The distance from Hamilton to work
About 27% 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.
Getting around Hamilton: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hamilton is more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 885 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). 0.0% of Hamilton households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hamilton’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Hamilton is 1,973rd of 5,656 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Berkeley Lake GA | 2,034 | $166K | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | Fairplay GA | 1,881 | $120K | 1.6% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 199 | Isle of Hope GA | 2,053 | $105K | 1.4% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,971 | Kodiak Station AK | 1,823 | $84K | 3.2% | 0.0% | — | B− |
| 1,972 | South Creek WA | 2,191 | $85K | 3.2% | 5.9% | <1% | B− |
| 1,973 | Hamilton GA | 1,824 | $92K | 11.4% | 6.9% | 5% | B− |
| 1,974 | Schuylerville NY | 1,348 | $87K | 9.6% | 2.5% | 7% | B− |
| 1,975 | Harrison Township IN | 2,153 | $73K | 8.6% | 1.1% | 7% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Hamilton, 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 Hamilton: questions
What is the median household income in Hamilton?
$92,083 (±$30,533) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hamilton?
11.4%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hamilton?
30 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hamilton work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbus (37%, 18 mi), LaGrange (5%, 20 mi), West Point (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hamilton walkable?
Hamilton is more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hamilton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hamilton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hamilton
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.