Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0LaGrange’s household incomes are lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
22.9% of residents live below the poverty line, against 13.4% across Georgia. The two grades for LaGrange are D for jobs and income and B− for walkability. About two in five work in LaGrange; the top destination outside it is West Point (6%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in LaGrange
LaGrange is where the jobs are
LaGrange has 23,326 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
LaGrange draws workers from far and wide
The 23,326 jobs in LaGrange are filled from a wide area. LaGrange’s own residents hold 21% and the ten next-biggest home towns 12%; the other 67% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from LaGrange are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 28 across Georgia. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Georgia worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Inside LaGrange’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, LaGrange is better than 9% of U.S. towns, #220 of 263 in Georgia. Job access by car holds LaGrange’s grade up (ahead of 49% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($43,708, U.S. $80,734).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, LaGrange stays D.
A workday in LaGrange: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 7,933 residents head out to work, 4,868 work right here, and 18,458 people come in from elsewhere.
About 45,000 people are in LaGrange 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.
Where LaGrange’s workers come from
Where LaGrange clocks in
6% of workers
4% 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.
Getting to work from LaGrange takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of LaGrange workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,939 commuters (the 12% 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.
29% of the jobs in LaGrange make or build things
23,326 jobs are based in LaGrange.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in LaGrange, 2013 → 2023: 23,241 → 23,326. 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 LaGrange’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from LaGrange
About 29% 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.
LaGrange is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, LaGrange is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns, #137 of 263 in Georgia. Both inputs place LaGrange 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 13,602 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). 14.2% of LaGrange households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of LaGrange’s commuters take a bus or train.
LaGrange next to U.S. towns of 24,000 to 47,000
| # | 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 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Milton GA | 41,266 | $171K | 4.3% | 2.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 253 | Decatur GA | 25,276 | $139K | 6.2% | 4.3% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 280 | Woodstock GA | 39,895 | $103K | 6.6% | 2.7% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,279 | Calexico CA | 38,623 | $50K | 19.7% | 19.4% | 30% | D |
| 1,280 | Jamestown NY | 27,663 | $44K | 25.3% | 9.0% | 34% | D |
| 1,281 | LaGrange GA | 34,730 | $44K | 22.9% | 9.0% | 38% | D |
| 1,282 | Pine Bluff AR | 38,213 | $43K | 24.0% | 10.5% | 48% | D |
| 1,283 | Meridian MS | 33,370 | $37K | 34.3% | 7.9% | 56% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,287 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 LaGrange, 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 LaGrange: questions
What is the median household income in LaGrange?
$43,708 (±$2,848) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in LaGrange?
22.9%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from LaGrange?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in LaGrange work?
38% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are West Point (6%, 11 mi), Columbus (4%, 37 mi), Atlanta (3%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is LaGrange walkable?
LaGrange is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around LaGrange without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from LaGrange, from the people who make the trip.
More of LaGrange
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.