Big Shanty Village Historic District · Photo: Nilesrob · CC BY-SA 4.0At 6.1%, unemployment in Kennesaw is higher than in 75% of U.S. towns
Only 4% work in Kennesaw; the top destination outside it is Atlanta (13%, 22 miles). The two grades for Kennesaw are B for jobs and income and B− for walkability. 22% of workers work from home, next to 16% for Georgia as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Kennesaw apart
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Kennesaw
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kennesaw is better than 58% of U.S. towns, #77 of 263 in Georgia. Job access by car holds Kennesaw’s grade up (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kennesaw could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Where Kennesaw’s working residents head each day
Where Kennesaw clocks in
13% of workers
9% of workers
5% 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 commute in and out of Kennesaw
On a workday 15,565 residents head out to work, 690 work right here, and 12,963 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 (0.84 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The kinds of work in Kennesaw
13,653 jobs are based in Kennesaw.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kennesaw, 2014 → 2024: 14,423 → 13,653. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Kennesaw’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Kennesaw spends getting to work: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kennesaw workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,051 commuters (the 22% 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.
How far Kennesaw’s workers travel
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Kennesaw walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kennesaw is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns, #146 of 263 in Georgia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% 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 18,065 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 56% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.8% of Kennesaw households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Kennesaw’s commuters take a bus or train.
678th of 1,096: where Kennesaw ranks among U.S. towns of 27,000 to 51,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Milton GA | 41,266 | $171K | 4.3% | 2.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 222 | Woodstock GA | 39,895 | $103K | 6.6% | 2.7% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 306 | Peachtree Corners GA | 42,519 | $82K | 7.9% | 2.5% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 676 | Queensbury NY | 29,049 | $90K | 8.1% | 4.8% | 24% | B |
| 677 | Pueblo West CO | 35,681 | $97K | 7.0% | 4.8% | 11% | B |
| 678 | Kennesaw GA | 37,970 | $83K | 10.3% | 6.1% | 4% | B |
| 679 | Woodlawn MD | 40,379 | $82K | 11.6% | 6.1% | 7% | B |
| 680 | Garner NC | 41,562 | $79K | 8.4% | 6.2% | 11% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,096 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 25% | 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 Kennesaw, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
Kennesaw and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Acworth (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Kennesaw’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 2024, 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 Kennesaw: questions
What is the median household income in Kennesaw?
$83,356 (±$9,076) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kennesaw?
10.3%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kennesaw?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kennesaw work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Atlanta (13%, 22 mi), Marietta (9%, 7 mi), Sandy Springs (5%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Kennesaw walkable?
Kennesaw is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kennesaw without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kennesaw, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kennesaw
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.