Photo: Michael Rivera · Public domainTifton’s household incomes are lower than in 93% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income C−: better than 23% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #176 of 263 in Georgia.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns · #45 of 263 in Georgia.
Working residents average 19 minutes each way (Georgia 28, U.S. 26). About one in three work in Tifton; the top destination outside it is Valdosta (4%, 45 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Tifton
No single place dominates Tifton’s commute
The biggest draw, Valdosta, gets only 4% of working residents, and 50% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Tifton residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Tifton draws workers from far and wide
The 11,726 jobs in Tifton are filled from a wide area. Tifton’s own residents hold 17% and the ten next-biggest home towns 11%; the other 72% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Tifton is where the jobs are
Tifton has 11,726 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Tifton are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 28 across Georgia. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Georgia worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Tifton workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Tifton’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.
What’s behind Tifton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tifton is better than 23% of U.S. towns, #176 of 263 in Georgia. Unemployment holds Tifton’s grade up (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($45,298, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tifton could be anywhere from D to C+.
Where Tifton’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Tifton clocks in
4% 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.
Tifton fills up on a workday
On a workday 4,072 residents head out to work, 2,036 work right here, and 9,690 people come in from elsewhere.
About 23,000 people are in Tifton on a workday afternoon, 32% more than live here.
1.9 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.
About 19 minutes each way, quicker than most of Georgia
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tifton workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,403 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Georgia: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
What the 11,726 jobs in Tifton are
11,726 jobs are based in Tifton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Tifton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tifton, 2013 → 2023: 11,430 → 11,726. 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.
Half of Tifton commutes less than 6 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
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.
Tifton is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tifton is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #45 of 263 in Georgia. Both inputs place Tifton 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 6,928 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). 10.6% of Tifton households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Tifton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Tifton is 1,807th of 2,103 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 24,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Tifton, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 163 | Holly Springs GA | 20,261 | $114K | 3.9% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 274 | Vinings GA | 14,390 | $95K | 6.2% | 2.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 345 | Flowery Branch GA | 13,110 | $104K | 6.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,805 | Washington PA | 13,377 | $53K | 16.8% | 8.2% | 15% | C− |
| 1,806 | Hidalgo TX | 15,376 | $59K | 21.1% | 8.8% | 10% | C− |
| 1,807 | Tifton GA | 17,595 | $45K | 23.5% | 3.4% | 33% | C− |
| 1,808 | New Castle IN | 17,390 | $52K | 20.1% | 4.9% | 23% | C− |
| 1,809 | Morganton NC | 17,849 | $51K | 25.7% | 3.8% | 36% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,103 | 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.
Tifton and the towns next door
Darker towns draw more of Tifton’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tifton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tifton | – | C− | A− | 19 min | $45,298 |
| Phillipsburg | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
| Unionville | under 1% | D | C+ | 26 min | $53,351 |
Same-state neighbors only. Phillipsburg: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Tifton: questions
What is the median household income in Tifton?
$45,298 (±$5,152) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tifton?
23.5%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tifton?
19 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tifton work?
33% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Valdosta (4%, 45 mi), Albany (3%, 39 mi), Moultrie (2%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tifton walkable?
Tifton is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tifton 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 Tifton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tifton
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.