Photo: Stickman42 · CC BY-SA 4.0Atlanta has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
There are 57 jobs in Atlanta, against 340 working residents. Hardly any work in Atlanta itself; outside it, Indianapolis draws the most (22%, 31 miles). The average commute takes 27 minutes each way (Indiana 24, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Atlanta: the figures worth knowing
Atlanta’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Atlanta is Indianapolis, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (75) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Atlanta is a place people come home to
There are 57 jobs based in Atlanta, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Atlanta has about 450 people in it, 39% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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; with 340 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Miles to work from Atlanta
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.
How many people are in Atlanta by day
On a workday 340 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 57 people come in from elsewhere.
About 450 people are in Atlanta on a workday afternoon, 39% 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 Atlanta to work: where people go
Where Atlanta clocks in
22% of workers
8% 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.
A place that makes things: 37% of Atlanta’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Atlanta, 2013 → 2023: 40 → 57. 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 Atlanta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 27 minutes in Atlanta
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Atlanta workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 374 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Indiana: 85% 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.
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 Atlanta: questions
What is the median household income in Atlanta?
$69,286 (±$12,362) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Atlanta?
18.8%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Atlanta?
27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Atlanta work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indianapolis (22%, 31 mi), Noblesville (14%, 12 mi), Carmel (8%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Atlanta without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Atlanta, from the people who make the trip.
More of Atlanta
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.