Jefferson Historic District · Photo: Hhoschton · CC BY-SA 3.0A job hub: Jefferson has 2.2 jobs per working resident, and 12,710 people come in to work
Measured by household income, Jefferson is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns. Employers in Jefferson report 13,593 jobs, and 6,054 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Jefferson is better than 87% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (C).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Jefferson stands out on work
Jobs in Jefferson have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Jefferson went from 5,889 in 2013 to 13,593 in 2023, +131%. The jobs ↓
Jefferson draws workers from far and wide
The 13,593 jobs in Jefferson are filled from a wide area. Jefferson’s own residents hold 6% and the ten next-biggest home towns 19%; the other 75% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Jefferson is where the jobs are
Jefferson has 13,593 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 25,000 people are in town, 44% more than the 17,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Jefferson workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 28 across Georgia. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
The biggest group of Jefferson’s workers comes from Athens
925 of the people who work in Jefferson live in Athens, 19 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: Jefferson’s grade explained
Household income is its strongest input ($109,828, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jefferson could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
What Jefferson’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jefferson, 2013 → 2023: 5,889 → 13,593. 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 Jefferson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who travels to work in Jefferson, and from where
Where Jefferson clocks in
7% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Jefferson
On a workday 5,171 residents head out to work and 883 work right here.
About 25,000 people are in Jefferson on a workday afternoon, 44% more than live here.
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 from Jefferson: about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jefferson workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,626 commuters (the 14% 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 Jefferson
About 15% 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.
Most trips from Jefferson start in a car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% 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 7,712 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). 2.9% of Jefferson households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Jefferson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000, Jefferson ranks 436th of 1,999 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Holly Springs GA | 20,261 | $114K | 3.9% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 262 | Vinings GA | 14,390 | $95K | 6.2% | 2.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 329 | Flowery Branch GA | 13,110 | $104K | 6.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 434 | Casa de Oro-Mount Helix CA | 19,765 | $125K | 4.8% | 4.9% | 3% | A |
| 435 | Spanish Springs NV | 17,980 | $128K | 2.9% | 2.8% | 6% | A |
| 436 | Jefferson GA | 17,185 | $110K | 5.6% | 2.6% | 15% | A |
| 437 | El Sobrante CA | 13,129 | $166K | 2.9% | 5.8% | 2% | A |
| 438 | Joppatowne MD | 14,237 | $118K | 6.5% | 3.3% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Jefferson, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
The towns around Jefferson
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jefferson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson | – | A | C | 34 min | $109,828 |
| Pendergrass | under 2% | A− | D | 34 min | $90,341 |
| Arcade | under 2% | B− | C | 34 min | $68,375 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Jefferson’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 Jefferson: questions
What is the median household income in Jefferson?
$109,828 (±$17,020) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jefferson?
5.6%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jefferson?
34 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jefferson work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Athens (10%, 18 mi), Gainesville (7%, 17 mi), Braselton (3%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jefferson walkable?
Jefferson is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jefferson without a car?
1% 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 Jefferson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jefferson
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.