Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Thomaston trail those of 97% of U.S. towns
4% of workers work from home (Georgia 16%). 28.1% of residents live below the poverty line (Georgia 13.4%). For jobs and income Thomaston is better than 10% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Thomaston: the figures worth knowing
No single place dominates Thomaston’s commute
The biggest draw, Griffin, gets only 4% of working residents, and 61% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Thomaston residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Thomaston trades workers with the towns around it
Thomaston has about as many jobs (4,688) as working residents (3,932), but they are mostly different people: 3,123 residents leave for work each day while 3,879 people come in. Only 17% of the jobs in Thomaston are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Few Thomaston workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 16% across Georgia. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Thomaston are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 28 across Georgia. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Georgia worker. Time on the road ↓
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 four measures behind Thomaston’s grade
Unemployment holds Thomaston’s grade up (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($38,917, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Thomaston could be anywhere from D− to C.
Where Thomaston goes to work
Where Thomaston clocks in
4% of workers
4% 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.
Thomaston by day and by night
On a workday 3,123 residents head out to work, 809 work right here, and 3,879 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 (1.19 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.
About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of Georgia
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Thomaston workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,553 commuters (the 4% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Thomaston
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.
The kinds of work in Thomaston
4,688 jobs are based in Thomaston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Thomaston, 2013 → 2023: 5,416 → 4,688. 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 Thomaston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Thomaston
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Georgia, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,709 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). 21.3% of Thomaston households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Thomaston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Thomaston next to U.S. towns of 6,900 to 13,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Tyrone GA | 8,091 | $136K | 2.4% | 1.3% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 412 | Flowery Branch GA | 13,110 | $104K | 6.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 571 | Druid Hills GA | 8,169 | $130K | 9.3% | 3.6% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,596 | La Homa TX | 11,285 | $37K | 37.4% | 13.8% | 1% | D |
| 2,597 | Gridley CA | 7,258 | $58K | 17.9% | 11.5% | 17% | D |
| 2,598 | Thomaston GA | 9,852 | $39K | 28.1% | 4.5% | 21% | D |
| 2,599 | South Boston VA | 7,795 | $44K | 26.9% | 5.2% | 19% | D |
| 2,600 | Kingsland TX | 7,330 | $57K | 16.3% | 6.4% | 12% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,761 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Thomaston, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
Thomaston and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Hannahs Mill (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Thomaston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomaston | – | D | A− | 23 min | $38,917 |
| Lincoln Park | under 1% | — | — | 50 min | — |
| Hannahs Mill | 1% | C+ | B− | 26 min | $69,850 |
Same-state neighbors only. Lincoln Park: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Thomaston’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 Thomaston: questions
What is the median household income in Thomaston?
$38,917 (±$11,720) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Thomaston?
28.1%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Thomaston?
23 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Thomaston work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Griffin (4%, 24 mi), Atlanta (4%, 60 mi), Macon-Bibb County (3%, 37 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Thomaston walkable?
Thomaston is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Thomaston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 21% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Thomaston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Thomaston
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.