Photo: John Trainor · CC BY 2.0A job hub: Thomasville has 1.9 jobs per working resident, and 10,550 people come in to work
13,655 jobs are based in Thomasville; 7,368 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Thomasville C−; getting around on foot earns it B. Household incomes here are lower than in 88% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Thomasville: the figures worth knowing
Commutes from Thomasville are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 28 across Georgia. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical Georgia worker. Time on the road ↓
Thomasville is where the jobs are
Thomasville has 13,655 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Thomasville draws workers from far and wide
The 13,655 jobs in Thomasville are filled from a wide area. Thomasville’s own residents hold 23% and the ten next-biggest home towns 13%; the other 64% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Thomasville
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Thomasville is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #195 of 263 in Georgia. Job access by car holds Thomasville’s grade up (ahead of 45% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($49,673, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Thomasville could be anywhere from D to C+.
The daily trip from Thomasville: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Thomasville workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,855 commuters (the 6% 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.
Thomasville fills up on a workday
On a workday 4,263 residents head out to work and 3,105 work right here.
About 25,000 people are in Thomasville on a workday afternoon, 34% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Thomasville’s workforce comes from
Where Thomasville clocks in
6% of workers
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.
The kinds of work in Thomasville
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Thomasville, 2013 → 2023: 14,738 → 13,655. 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 Thomasville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Thomasville goes to work
About 23% 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.
Most trips from Thomasville start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Thomasville is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns, #129 of 263 in Georgia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% of 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 8,370 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). 9.2% of Thomasville households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Thomasville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Thomasville and other U.S. towns of 13,000 to 25,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Holly Springs GA | 20,261 | $114K | 3.9% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 252 | Vinings GA | 14,390 | $95K | 6.2% | 2.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 324 | Flowery Branch GA | 13,110 | $104K | 6.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,758 | Lewisburg TN | 13,517 | $48K | 19.9% | 5.5% | 30% | C− |
| 1,759 | Searcy AR | 24,351 | $52K | 18.8% | 6.1% | 47% | C− |
| 1,760 | Thomasville GA | 18,667 | $50K | 17.1% | 5.9% | 42% | C− |
| 1,761 | Payson AZ | 16,693 | $68K | 11.0% | 7.1% | 33% | C− |
| 1,762 | Corinth MS | 14,345 | $44K | 18.7% | 4.7% | 35% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,915 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Thomasville, 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 Thomasville: questions
What is the median household income in Thomasville?
$49,673 (±$8,696) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Thomasville?
17.1%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Thomasville?
16 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Thomasville work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tallahassee (6%, 31 mi), Cairo (3%, 14 mi), Moultrie (2%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Thomasville walkable?
Thomasville is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Thomasville without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Thomasville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Thomasville
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.