Photo: Richardelainechambers at English Wikipedia · Public domainMetter’s household incomes are lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
2% of workers have no commute at all, against 16% across Georgia. Below the poverty line: 15.2% of residents (Georgia 13.4%). For jobs and income Metter is better than 32% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Metter and work: the main findings
Few Metter workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 16% across Georgia. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Metter 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 than half of Metter workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Metter’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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.
The figures behind Metter’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Metter’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($35,759, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Metter could be anywhere from C− to B−.
How long Metter spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Metter workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,469 commuters (the 2% 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.
What Metter’s employers do
2,233 jobs are based in Metter.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Metter, 2013 → 2023: 2,229 → 2,233. 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 Metter’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Metter
About 33% 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.
Who leaves Metter for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,155 residents head out to work, 366 work right here, and 1,867 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,800 people are in Metter on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
8% of working residents work in Statesboro
Where Metter clocks in
Lines 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 Metter gets around
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,500 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). 3.5% of Metter households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Metter’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,500, Metter ranks 2,819th of 4,023 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Avondale Estates GA | 3,543 | $124K | 6.3% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 269 | Ball Ground GA | 3,470 | $118K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 343 | Chattahoochee Hills GA | 3,524 | $112K | 1.1% | 3.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,817 | Fort Edward NY | 3,128 | $72K | 13.6% | 5.8% | 5% | C |
| 2,818 | Little Flock AR | 3,039 | $61K | 13.2% | 7.1% | 1% | C |
| 2,819 | Metter GA | 4,076 | $36K | 15.2% | 0.0% | 24% | C |
| 2,820 | Chadron NE | 4,975 | $55K | 13.2% | 1.8% | 58% | C |
| 2,821 | Farmville NC | 4,577 | $47K | 28.1% | 1.8% | 13% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,023 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Metter, 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 Metter: questions
What is the median household income in Metter?
$35,759 (±$10,606) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Metter?
15.2%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Metter?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Metter work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Statesboro (8%, 17 mi), Stillmore (5%, 9 mi), Savannah (4%, 57 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Metter walkable?
Metter is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Metter 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 Metter, from the people who make the trip.
More of Metter
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.