Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Tompkinsville are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 27.3% (Kentucky 16.1%). For jobs and income Tompkinsville is better than 3% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (B+). About one in four work in Tompkinsville itself; outside it, Glasgow draws the most (8%, 25 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Tompkinsville
Tompkinsville is where the jobs are
Tompkinsville has 1,759 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,200 people are in town, 42% more than the 2,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
Tompkinsville’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Tompkinsville is Glasgow, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (65) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Tompkinsville are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky. That’s about 69 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 827 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Tompkinsville’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Tompkinsville’s grade up (ahead of 18% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($38,628, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tompkinsville could be anywhere from D− to C.
How a workday changes Tompkinsville
On a workday 598 residents head out to work, 229 work right here, and 1,530 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,200 people are in Tompkinsville on a workday afternoon, 42% more than live here.
2.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Miles to work from Tompkinsville
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
A commute of about 15 minutes in Tompkinsville
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tompkinsville workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,040 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 towns that send workers to Tompkinsville
Where Tompkinsville clocks in
8% of workers
5% of workers
3% 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.
What the 1,759 jobs in Tompkinsville are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tompkinsville, 2014 → 2024: 1,790 → 1,759. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Tompkinsville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Few in Tompkinsville walk, bike or ride to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 7.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,094 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). 12.6% of Tompkinsville households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Tompkinsville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Tompkinsville and other 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% | 1% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,842 | Manatee Road FL | 2,426 | $52K | 19.9% | 6.7% | 2% | D− |
| 4,843 | Des Arc AR | 1,841 | $31K | 20.0% | 4.2% | 16% | D− |
| 4,844 | Tompkinsville KY | 2,235 | $39K | 27.3% | 7.4% | 28% | D− |
| 4,845 | Harrison MI | 2,171 | $39K | 25.5% | 0.8% | 11% | D− |
| 4,846 | Gallatin MO | 1,848 | $47K | 19.8% | 4.5% | 10% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Tompkinsville, 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 2024, 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 Tompkinsville: questions
What is the median household income in Tompkinsville?
$38,628 (±$5,387) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tompkinsville?
27.3%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tompkinsville?
15 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tompkinsville work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Glasgow (8%, 25 mi), Bowling Green (5%, 45 mi), Scottsville (3%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Tompkinsville walkable?
Tompkinsville is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tompkinsville without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tompkinsville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tompkinsville
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.