Photo: Emmanuel2312 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in McRae-Helena have lower incomes than those in 94% of U.S. towns
6% of workers work from home, next to 16% for Georgia as a whole. The poverty rate is 31.5%; Georgia has 13.4%. Jobs and income earn McRae-Helena C−; getting around on foot earns it C−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
McRae-Helena and work: the main findings
McRae-Helena trades workers with the towns around it
McRae-Helena has about as many jobs (1,404) as working residents (1,392), but they are mostly different people: 1,142 residents leave for work each day while 1,154 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in McRae-Helena are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
46% 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 ↓
Commutes from McRae-Helena are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 28 across Georgia. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Georgia worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in McRae-Helena than ten years ago
Jobs counted in McRae-Helena fell from 1,947 in 2014 to 1,404 in 2024, −28%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The figures behind McRae-Helena’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, McRae-Helena is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #184 of 263 in Georgia. Unemployment holds McRae-Helena’s grade up (1.8%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, McRae-Helena could be anywhere from D to C+.
The daily flow of workers through McRae-Helena
On a workday 1,142 residents head out to work, 250 work right here, and 1,154 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 (1.01 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.
How far McRae-Helena goes to work
About 46% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
McRae-Helena’s commute takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of McRae-Helena workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,354 commuters (the 6% 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.
Jobs in McRae-Helena: what the 1,404 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in McRae-Helena, 2014 → 2024: 1,947 → 1,404. 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 McRae-Helena’s own residents hold wherever they work.
5% of working residents work in Eastman
Where McRae-Helena clocks in
5% of workers
4% of workers
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.
Driving is how McRae-Helena gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, McRae-Helena is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns, #226 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 1,443 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). 23.5% of McRae-Helena households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of McRae-Helena’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, McRae-Helena is 2,929th among 3,541 U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,300
| # | 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 |
| … | |||||||
| 2,927 | Unicoi TN | 3,861 | $42K | 21.3% | 4.8% | 4% | C− |
| 2,928 | Dexter ME | 3,874 | $52K | 23.1% | 2.1% | 19% | C− |
| 2,929 | McRae-Helena GA | 5,443 | $44K | 31.5% | 1.8% | 18% | C− |
| 2,930 | Raton NM | 5,952 | $53K | 25.1% | 1.8% | 53% | C− |
| 2,931 | Chipley FL | 3,804 | $46K | 12.7% | 3.9% | 20% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,541 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 McRae-Helena, 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 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 McRae-Helena: questions
What is the median household income in McRae-Helena?
$43,618 (±$26,092) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in McRae-Helena?
31.5%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from McRae-Helena?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in McRae-Helena work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Eastman (5%, 18 mi), Macon-Bibb County (4%, 69 mi), Dublin (4%, 33 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is McRae-Helena walkable?
McRae-Helena is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around McRae-Helena without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 24% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from McRae-Helena, from the people who make the trip.
More of McRae-Helena
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.