Photo: Adam Moss · CC BY-SA 2.0Tennessee has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
2 jobs are based in Tennessee for 33 working residents. Hardly any work in Tennessee; the top destination outside it is Macomb (39%, 9 miles). Working from home is the commute for 4% of workers, against 16% across Illinois.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes Tennessee
On a workday 33 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 2 people come in from elsewhere.
About 67 people are in Tennessee on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer 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.
Out of Tennessee to work: where people go
Where Tennessee clocks in
6% 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.
Jobs in Tennessee: what the 2 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tennessee, 2013 → 2023: 2 → 2. 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 Tennessee’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Tennessee takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tennessee workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 82 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Tennessee’s commute, mile by mile
About 22% 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.
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 Tennessee: questions
What is the median household income in Tennessee?
$77,500 (±$9,516) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tennessee?
6.4%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tennessee?
17 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tennessee work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Macomb (39%, 9 mi), Colchester (6%, 2 mi), Emmet Township (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Tennessee without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tennessee, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tennessee
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.