Waleska has lower household incomes than 80% of U.S. towns
Only 2% work in Waleska itself; outside it, Canton draws the most (13%, 6 miles). 6.5% of residents are in poverty, against 13.4% across Georgia. For jobs and income Waleska is better than 37% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Waleska, in brief
How Waleska earns its Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Waleska’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($56,250, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (5.1%) is left out: Waleska’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Waleska could be anywhere from D to A−.
A commute of about 17 minutes in Waleska
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waleska workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 316 commuters (the 19% 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.
Who commutes out of Waleska, and who commutes in
On a workday 469 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 319 people come in from elsewhere.
About 890 people are in Waleska on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.69 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Where Waleska’s working residents head each day
Where Waleska clocks in
13% of workers
8% of workers
4% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Waleska
327 jobs are based in Waleska.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waleska, 2013 → 2023: 303 → 327. 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 Waleska’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Waleska commutes
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 commute in Waleska is mostly behind the wheel
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 26.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Georgia, on an EPA index of 4.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 390 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). 0.0% of Waleska households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Waleska’s commuters take a bus or train.
Waleska is 1,469th of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Winterville GA | 1,203 | $111K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 163 | Clermont GA | 1,165 | $136K | 4.7% | 3.1% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 408 | Robins AFB GA | 1,193 | $107K | 5.9% | 9.9% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,467 | Baker Township KS | 1,264 | $73K | 5.9% | 2.8% | 31% | C+ |
| 1,468 | Colebrook Township OH | 1,149 | $60K | 8.1% | 3.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,469 | Waleska GA | 1,042 | $56K | 6.5% | 5.1% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,470 | Ore City TX | 1,210 | $73K | 13.5% | 4.9% | 3% | C+ |
| 1,471 | Rangeley ME | 1,336 | $58K | 1.8% | 19.4% | 58% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Waleska, 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 Waleska: questions
What is the median household income in Waleska?
$56,250 (±$37,945) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waleska?
6.5%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waleska?
17 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waleska work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Canton (13%, 6 mi), Atlanta (8%, 39 mi), Marietta (4%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waleska walkable?
Waleska is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 4.3 out of 20, and 27% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waleska without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waleska, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waleska
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.