Photo: Nyttend · Public domainFulton has lower household incomes than 98% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Fulton D−; getting around on foot earns it B+. Below the poverty line: 30.8% of residents, where Kentucky as a whole has 16.1%. About one in five work in Fulton itself; outside it, Union City draws the most (12%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Fulton apart
Many of the people who work in Fulton live in another state
South Fulton, TN (8%), Martin, TN (3%) and Union City, TN (3%) are among the top places Fulton’s workers come from. Counting only the top ten home towns, 14% of the jobs here are held by people from out of state. The commute map ↓
Fewer than half of Fulton workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Fulton’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 21% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Fulton are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kentucky worker. Time on the road ↓
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 744 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Fulton: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Fulton is better than 4% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Fulton’s grade up (ahead of 30% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($36,040, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (2.0%) is left out: Fulton’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, Fulton could be anywhere from D− to D.
The towns that employ Fulton’s residents
Where Fulton clocks in
12% of workers
7% 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.
Inside Fulton’s 1,100 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fulton, 2013 → 2023: 1,268 → 1,100. 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 Fulton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Kentucky
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fulton workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 772 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 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.
The daily commute in and out of Fulton
On a workday 591 residents head out to work, 153 work right here, and 947 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Fulton on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.48 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How many miles Fulton commutes
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.
For most of Fulton, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fulton is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.1% across Kentucky.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 813 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). 22.7% of Fulton households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fulton’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Fulton compares with U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Lakeside Park KY | 2,847 | $129K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 16 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Pewee Valley KY | 1,668 | $157K | 3.0% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,778 | Central Heights-Midland City AZ | 2,909 | $61K | 22.5% | 11.9% | 1% | D− |
| 4,779 | Fort Hall ID | 2,654 | $45K | 22.6% | 13.3% | 39% | D− |
| 4,780 | Fulton KY | 2,252 | $36K | 30.8% | 2.0% | 21% | D− |
| 4,781 | Murphy NC | 1,808 | $37K | 17.5% | 5.6% | 21% | D− |
| 4,782 | McArthur OH | 1,764 | $49K | 26.7% | 4.8% | 12% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Fulton, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
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 Fulton: questions
What is the median household income in Fulton?
$36,040 (±$1,745) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fulton?
30.8%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fulton?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fulton work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Union City (12%, 11 mi), Martin (7%, 12 mi), Mayfield (4%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fulton walkable?
Fulton is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fulton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 23% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fulton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fulton
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.