Photo: KudzuVine · Public domainHousehold incomes in Ringgold are lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 14.9% of residents, where Georgia as a whole has 13.4%. For jobs and income Ringgold is better than 23% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (C+). At home: 5% of workers have no commute at all (Georgia 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Ringgold
Many Ringgold workers cross into Tennessee
40% of Ringgold workers work outside Georgia, most of them in Tennessee, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Ringgold has far more jobs than workers
Ringgold has 4,561 jobs, 3.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 6,600 people are in town, 94% more than the 3,400 who live here. Day and night ↓
31% of Ringgold works in Chattanooga
431 working residents, 31%, have their main job in Chattanooga, TN, 13 miles away. That’s 4 times as many as work in Ringgold itself. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Ringgold 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.
How Ringgold earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Ringgold’s grade up (ahead of 49% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($42,583, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ringgold could be anywhere from D to B+.
Commuting in to Ringgold: where workers come from
Where Ringgold clocks in
31% 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.
Ringgold nearly doubles on a workday
On a workday 1,279 residents head out to work, 109 work right here, and 4,452 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,600 people are in Ringgold on a workday afternoon, 94% more than live here.
3.3 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.
Commuting from Ringgold: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ringgold workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,429 commuters (the 5% 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 Ringgold: what the 4,561 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ringgold, 2013 → 2023: 3,614 → 4,561. 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 Ringgold’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Ringgold, by distance
About 17% 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.
Ringgold is a driving town
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 1,511 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). 3.3% of Ringgold households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ringgold’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600, Ringgold ranks 3,430th of 4,402 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | Avondale Estates GA | 3,543 | $124K | 6.3% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 275 | Ball Ground GA | 3,470 | $118K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 353 | Chattahoochee Hills GA | 3,524 | $112K | 1.1% | 3.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,428 | Benton Township MI | 3,158 | $68K | 10.3% | 5.3% | 1% | C− |
| 3,429 | Agua Dulce TX | 2,697 | $47K | 20.4% | 5.4% | 1% | C− |
| 3,430 | Ringgold GA | 3,391 | $43K | 14.9% | 4.8% | 8% | C− |
| 3,431 | Cotulla TX | 3,583 | $70K | 26.7% | 3.0% | 31% | C− |
| 3,432 | Karnes City TX | 3,540 | $55K | 29.6% | 1.8% | 8% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | 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 Ringgold, 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 Ringgold: questions
What is the median household income in Ringgold?
$42,583 (±$13,760) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ringgold?
14.9%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ringgold?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ringgold work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chattanooga (31%, 13 mi), Dalton (8%, 13 mi), Fort Oglethorpe (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ringgold walkable?
Ringgold is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ringgold without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ringgold, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ringgold
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.