Treutlen County Courthouse · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Soperton earn less than in almost any other U.S. town
Poverty touches 24.9% of residents, against 13.4% across Georgia. Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. The two grades for Soperton are D− for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Soperton and work: the main findings
A big share show a job far from home
32% 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 ↓
Soperton has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Soperton went from 516 in 2013 to 748 in 2023, +45%. The jobs ↓
Fewer than half of Soperton workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Soperton’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 19% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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 954 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Soperton
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Soperton is better than 2% of U.S. towns, #256 of 263 in Georgia. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Soperton’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Soperton could be anywhere from D− to C.
Soperton’s commute, mile by mile
About 32% 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.
Inside Soperton’s 748 jobs
748 jobs are based in Soperton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Soperton, 2013 → 2023: 516 → 748. 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 Soperton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Soperton, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 817 residents head out to work, 137 work right here, and 611 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 (0.78 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.
14% of working residents work in Vidalia
Where Soperton clocks in
14% of workers
10% of workers
3% 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.
Commuting from Soperton: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Soperton workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 891 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.
Most trips from Soperton start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Soperton is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns, #242 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 936 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). 10.9% of Soperton households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Soperton’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000, and where Soperton sits
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Avondale Estates GA | 3,543 | $124K | 6.3% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 250 | Ball Ground GA | 3,470 | $118K | 1.8% | 1.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 321 | Chattahoochee Hills GA | 3,524 | $112K | 1.1% | 3.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,506 | Bonifay FL | 2,839 | $41K | 22.1% | 4.4% | 24% | D− |
| 4,507 | Wewahitchka FL | 2,213 | $44K | 20.1% | 2.0% | 13% | D− |
| 4,508 | Soperton GA | 2,994 | $33K | 24.9% | 8.9% | 14% | D− |
| 4,509 | Lucedale MS | 3,232 | $41K | 40.0% | 7.4% | 29% | D− |
| 4,510 | Malden MO | 3,493 | $40K | 30.1% | 9.6% | 18% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Soperton, 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 Soperton: questions
What is the median household income in Soperton?
$33,146 (±$5,588) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Soperton?
24.9%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Soperton?
24 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Soperton work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Vidalia (14%, 16 mi), Dublin (10%, 22 mi), Lyons (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Soperton walkable?
Soperton is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Soperton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Soperton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Soperton
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.