Photo: Legohead · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in St. Marys (7.6%) than in 86% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 26 minutes each way, where Georgia has 28 and the U.S. 26. St. Marys grades C− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. About one in five stay in St. Marys for work; outside it, Kingsland is the main destination (15%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: St. Marys in brief
St. Marys and Kingsland trade workers both ways
Kingsland is the top workplace for St. Marys residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in St. Marys come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for St. Marys
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Marys is better than 19% of U.S. towns, #189 of 263 in Georgia. Household income holds St. Marys’ grade up ($74,288, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, St. Marys could be anywhere from D to C+.
Where people from St. Marys work
Where St. Marys clocks in
15% of workers
5% 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.
St. Marys’ commute, mile by mile
About 35% 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.
The daily flow of workers through St. Marys
On a workday 4,661 residents head out to work, 981 work right here, and 3,125 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.
0.73 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
What work there is in St. Marys: 4,106 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Marys, 2014 → 2024: 4,080 → 4,106. 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 St. Marys’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from St. Marys: about 26 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Marys workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,926 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.
Getting around St. Marys: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Marys is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #162 of 263 in Georgia. Both inputs place St. Marys 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 7,815 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). 6.1% of St. Marys households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of St. Marys’ commuters take a bus or train.
St. Marys next to U.S. towns of 14,000 to 28,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 160 | Holly Springs GA | 20,261 | $114K | 3.9% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 256 | Vinings GA | 14,390 | $95K | 6.2% | 2.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 367 | Decatur GA | 25,276 | $139K | 6.2% | 4.3% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,751 | Fremont OH | 15,765 | $47K | 22.7% | 5.5% | 29% | C− |
| 1,752 | Kerman CA | 17,553 | $60K | 21.3% | 10.4% | 15% | C− |
| 1,753 | St. Marys GA | 20,546 | $74K | 17.4% | 7.6% | 17% | C− |
| 1,754 | Waterville ME | 17,579 | $54K | 20.6% | 5.5% | 31% | C− |
| 1,755 | Junction City KS | 22,583 | $61K | 17.5% | 6.2% | 36% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,931 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 St. Marys, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
18% of St. Marys works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | St. Marys workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Marys | – | C− | B− | 26 min | $74,288 |
| Kingsland | 15% | B− | C | 30 min | $77,944 |
| Kings Bay Base | 3% | C− | A− | 12 min | $78,000 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Kingsland. Darker towns draw more of St. Marys’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 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 St. Marys: questions
What is the median household income in St. Marys?
$74,288 (±$7,419) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Marys?
17.4%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Marys?
26 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Marys work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kingsland (15%, 14 mi), Jacksonville (5%, 30 mi), Brunswick (3%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is St. Marys walkable?
St. Marys is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Marys without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Marys, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Marys
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.