Griffeth-Pendley House · Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 4.0Jasper has lower unemployment (0.1%) than 98% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Jasper itself; outside it, Canton draws the most (7%, 16 miles). Jobs and income earn Jasper C; getting around on foot earns it C+. Household incomes here are lower than in 85% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Jasper stands out on work
How Jasper earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jasper is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #152 of 263 in Georgia. Unemployment holds Jasper’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (27.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jasper could be anywhere from C− to C+.
The daily flow of workers through Jasper
On a workday 1,591 residents head out to work, 293 work right here, and 4,692 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,500 people are in Jasper on a workday afternoon, 57% more than live here.
2.6 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.
Commuting in to Jasper: where workers come from
Where Jasper clocks in
7% of workers
6% 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.
What work there is in Jasper: 4,985 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jasper, 2013 → 2023: 4,055 → 4,985. 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 Jasper’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Jasper spends getting to work: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jasper workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,619 commuters (the 15% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Jasper
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 Jasper walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jasper is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns, #197 of 263 in Georgia. 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 1,912 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). 1.6% of Jasper households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jasper’s commuters take a bus or train.
Jasper is 2,615th of 3,541 U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,300 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Grayson GA | 5,569 | $131K | 3.5% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 159 | Senoia GA | 6,276 | $125K | 1.1% | 1.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 401 | Temple GA | 6,564 | $91K | 2.6% | 1.0% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,613 | Batesburg-Leesville SC | 5,346 | $50K | 15.1% | 3.5% | 17% | C |
| 2,614 | Arcade NY | 4,193 | $62K | 11.4% | 3.5% | 22% | C |
| 2,615 | Jasper GA | 5,400 | $52K | 27.2% | 0.1% | 16% | C |
| 2,616 | Mayfield NY | 6,073 | $72K | 15.3% | 4.7% | 9% | C |
| 2,617 | West Modesto CA | 5,978 | $61K | 12.4% | 12.1% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,541 | 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 Jasper, 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 Jasper: questions
What is the median household income in Jasper?
$52,442 (±$10,183) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jasper?
27.2%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jasper?
30 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jasper work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Canton (7%, 16 mi), Atlanta (6%, 49 mi), Sandy Springs (2%, 37 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jasper walkable?
Jasper is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jasper 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 Jasper, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jasper
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.