Fort James Jackson · Photo: MArcin K. · CC BY-SA 3.0Savannah has higher unemployment (7.2%) than 84% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 78% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn Savannah C; getting around on foot earns it A. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 6.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 22.2 in Atlanta.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Savannah
Savannah is where the jobs are
Savannah has 90,260 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Savannah 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 ↓
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.
Savannah’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Savannah is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #169 of 263 in Georgia. Job access by car holds Savannah’s grade up (ahead of 77% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (19.7%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Savannah could be anywhere from C− to C.
How many people are in Savannah by day
On a workday 28,455 residents head out to work, 29,091 work right here, and 61,169 people come in from elsewhere.
About 182,000 people are in Savannah on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.6 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.
Savannah’s commute takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Savannah workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 61,393 commuters (the 11% 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 Savannah’s workforce comes from
Where Savannah clocks in
3% of workers
2% 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.
Inside Savannah’s 90,260 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Savannah, 2013 → 2023: 83,488 → 90,260. 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 Savannah’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Savannah
About 20% 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.
Savannah is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Savannah is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns, #10 of 263 in Georgia. Both inputs place Savannah 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 69,335 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 86% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 50% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 88% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 10.5% of Savannah households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Savannah’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
How Savannah compares with U.S. towns of 105,000 to 202,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 2 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Smithtown NY | 116,847 | $153K | 4.2% | 3.9% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Sandy Springs GA | 105,013 | $104K | 8.5% | 4.0% | 15% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 112 | South Fulton GA | 112,820 | $82K | 9.1% | 7.2% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 168 | Athens GA | 129,921 | $54K | 26.0% | 5.2% | 46% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 210 | Montgomery AL | 195,300 | $57K | 21.5% | 6.4% | 64% | C |
| 211 | Peoria IL | 110,920 | $59K | 21.0% | 7.5% | 47% | C |
| 212 | Savannah GA | 149,440 | $57K | 19.7% | 7.2% | 51% | C |
| 213 | Beaumont TX | 112,967 | $57K | 21.2% | 6.4% | 45% | C− |
| 214 | Allentown PA | 126,044 | $55K | 21.0% | 9.0% | 16% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 232 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Savannah, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
Work next door: 10% of Savannah’s workers
The biggest share goes to Pooler (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Savannah workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savannah | – | C | A | 21 min | $57,137 |
| Georgetown | under 1% | B− | B | 22 min | $74,256 |
| Pooler | 6% | B | C+ | 24 min | $91,766 |
| Port Wentworth | 1% | B− | C+ | 27 min | $79,731 |
| Garden City | 3% | C− | A− | 19 min | $47,814 |
| Vernonburg | under 1% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Thunderbolt | under 1% | B− | A− | 21 min | $75,234 |
| Montgomery | under 1% | B+ | C− | 21 min | $90,843 |
| Henderson | under 1% | A− | D | 28 min | $104,385 |
| Bloomingdale | under 1% | B | C | 28 min | $60,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Vernonburg: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Savannah’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 Savannah: questions
What is the median household income in Savannah?
$57,137 (±$1,715) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Savannah?
19.7%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Savannah?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Savannah work?
51% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pooler (6%, 7 mi), Garden City (3%, 5 mi), Atlanta (2%, 223 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Savannah walkable?
Savannah is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.7 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Savannah without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 50% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Savannah, from the people who make the trip.
More of Savannah
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.