Dade County Courthouse · Photo: DwayneP · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Trenton have lower incomes than those in 96% of U.S. towns
Trenton grades D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. The poverty rate is 14.8% (Georgia 13.4%). About one in four work in Trenton; the top destination outside it is Chattanooga (25%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Trenton: the figures worth knowing
Trenton is where the jobs are
Trenton has 2,618 jobs, 2.9 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,000 people are in town, 77% more than the 2,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Trenton workers cross into Tennessee
35% of Trenton workers work outside Georgia, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Chattanooga (25%), East Ridge (1%) and Nashville (1%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Trenton makes and builds things
43% of the jobs based in Trenton are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Trenton residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
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; with 889 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Trenton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Trenton is better than 7% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Trenton’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($39,441, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (6.2%) is left out: Trenton’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Trenton could be anywhere from D− to C.
Trenton nearly doubles on a workday
On a workday 665 residents head out to work, 224 work right here, and 2,394 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,000 people are in Trenton on a workday afternoon, 77% more than live here.
2.9 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 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting in to Trenton: where workers come from
Where Trenton clocks in
25% 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.
Trenton works in goods: 43% of its jobs
2,618 jobs are based in Trenton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Trenton, 2014 → 2024: 2,033 → 2,618. 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 Trenton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Trenton spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Trenton workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 708 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.
Trenton’s commute, mile by mile
About 20% 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.
Trenton is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Trenton is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.6% 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 798 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). 5.8% of Trenton households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Trenton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000, Trenton ranks 4,581st of 5,102 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Berkeley Lake GA | 2,034 | $166K | 1.6% | 1.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Fairplay GA | 1,881 | $120K | 1.6% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 191 | Isle of Hope GA | 2,053 | $105K | 1.4% | 1.3% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,579 | Boles Acres NM | 1,848 | $53K | 16.2% | 1.8% | 1% | D |
| 4,580 | Gassville AR | 2,205 | $39K | 17.8% | 8.4% | 5% | D |
| 4,581 | Trenton GA | 2,236 | $39K | 14.8% | 6.2% | 25% | D |
| 4,582 | Edmonton KY | 1,713 | $51K | 26.5% | 5.3% | 24% | D |
| 4,583 | Ramseur NC | 1,806 | $36K | 47.7% | 6.3% | 5% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Trenton, 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 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 Trenton: questions
What is the median household income in Trenton?
$39,441 (±$11,448) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Trenton?
14.8%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Trenton?
21 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Trenton work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chattanooga (25%, 20 mi), Atlanta (2%, 99 mi), Fort Oglethorpe (2%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Trenton walkable?
Trenton is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Trenton without a car?
0% 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 Trenton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Trenton
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.