Cheek House · Photo: Cecouchman · CC BY-SA 3.0Lavonia has lower household incomes than 97% of U.S. towns
3% of workers have no commute at all, against 16% across Georgia. 26.8% of residents live below the poverty line, against 13.4% across Georgia. The two grades for Lavonia are D for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Lavonia apart
Lavonia fills up on a workday
Lavonia has 3,594 jobs, 3.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,800 people are in town, more than double the 2,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Lavonia are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 28 across Georgia. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Georgia worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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; with 960 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Lavonia: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Lavonia is better than 8% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Lavonia’s grade up (ahead of 43% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($36,859, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (11.6%) is left out: Lavonia’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Lavonia could be anywhere from D to C−.
How a workday changes Lavonia
On a workday 800 residents head out to work, 160 work right here, and 3,434 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,800 people are in Lavonia on a workday afternoon, 120% more than live here.
3.7 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.
About 19 minutes each way, quicker than most of Georgia
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lavonia workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 779 commuters (the 3% 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.
Where in the region Lavonia works
About 30% 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.
Where Lavonia’s workers come from
Where Lavonia clocks in
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.
Goods jobs make up 35% of work in Lavonia
3,594 jobs are based in Lavonia.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lavonia, 2013 → 2023: 2,546 → 3,594. 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 Lavonia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute in Lavonia is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lavonia is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Lavonia 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 806 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). 4.3% of Lavonia households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lavonia’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Lavonia ranks: 5,007th of 5,641 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 3,000
| # | 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Berkeley Lake GA | 2,034 | $166K | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 121 | Fairplay GA | 1,881 | $120K | 1.6% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 210 | Isle of Hope GA | 2,053 | $105K | 1.4% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,005 | Little Valley NY | 1,674 | $56K | 21.1% | 1.0% | 13% | D |
| 5,006 | Danville AR | 1,961 | $64K | 26.0% | 7.3% | 13% | D |
| 5,007 | Lavonia GA | 2,200 | $37K | 26.8% | 11.6% | 17% | D |
| 5,008 | Dunkirk IN | 2,097 | $46K | 22.6% | 4.9% | 7% | D |
| 5,009 | Baldwin LA | 1,676 | $32K | 26.9% | 1.2% | 2% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,641 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Lavonia, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
Lavonia and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Lavonia’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 Lavonia: questions
What is the median household income in Lavonia?
$36,859 (±$6,997) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lavonia?
26.8%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lavonia?
19 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lavonia work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Athens (5%, 36 mi), Gainesville (4%, 42 mi), Commerce (3%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lavonia walkable?
Lavonia is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lavonia without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lavonia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lavonia
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.