Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0Vidalia has 2.2 jobs for every working resident: 7,036 people commute in to work
Employers in Vidalia report 8,551 jobs; 3,871 of its residents have a job. For jobs and income Vidalia is better than 11% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (B). Measured by household income, Vidalia is behind 89% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Vidalia in brief
Vidalia is where the jobs are
Vidalia has 8,551 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 16,000 people are in town, 43% more than the 11,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Vidalia draws workers from far and wide
The 8,551 jobs in Vidalia are filled from a wide area. Vidalia’s own residents hold 18% and the ten next-biggest home towns 13%; the other 69% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Few Vidalia 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 Vidalia are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 28 across Georgia. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Georgia worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Vidalia workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Vidalia’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% 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 Vidalia’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Vidalia’s grade up (5.4%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (25.7%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Vidalia could be anywhere from D− to C.
Vidalia by day and by night
On a workday 2,356 residents head out to work and 1,515 work right here.
About 16,000 people are in Vidalia on a workday afternoon, 43% 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.
The daily trip into Vidalia
Where Vidalia clocks in
10% of workers
2% 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.
About 22 minutes each way for Vidalia’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vidalia workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,980 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.
The kinds of work in Vidalia
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vidalia, 2013 → 2023: 7,871 → 8,551. 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 Vidalia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Vidalia’s commute, mile by mile
About 28% 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 of Vidalia commutes by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,142 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). 9.9% of Vidalia households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Vidalia’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Vidalia compares with U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Tyrone GA | 8,091 | $136K | 2.4% | 1.3% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 310 | Vinings GA | 14,390 | $95K | 6.2% | 2.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 395 | Flowery Branch GA | 13,110 | $104K | 6.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,342 | Fort Riley KS | 8,606 | $54K | 10.7% | 18.6% | 2% | D |
| 2,343 | Anderson CA | 11,131 | $47K | 21.2% | 7.5% | 13% | D |
| 2,344 | Vidalia GA | 10,885 | $49K | 25.7% | 5.4% | 39% | D |
| 2,345 | Maysville KY | 8,688 | $39K | 24.3% | 4.4% | 43% | D |
| 2,346 | Clinton NC | 8,466 | $45K | 23.6% | 4.9% | 26% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Vidalia, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
Bordering towns draw 10% of Vidalia’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Lyons. Darker towns draw more of Vidalia’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 Vidalia: questions
What is the median household income in Vidalia?
$49,370 (±$6,091) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vidalia?
25.7%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vidalia?
22 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vidalia work?
39% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lyons (10%, 5 mi), Macon-Bibb County (2%, 86 mi), Dublin (2%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Vidalia walkable?
Vidalia is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vidalia without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Vidalia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vidalia
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.