With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Nashville works elsewhere
The two grades for Nashville are C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Employers in Nashville report 220 jobs; 568 of its residents have a job. For 4% of workers, the job is at home, next to 14% for Michigan as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Nashville, in a few figures
Few Nashville workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Nashville workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2021, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; 2021 is the newest year Michigan has published; with 568 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Nashville earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Nashville is better than 29% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Nashville’s grade up (9.7%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($56,143, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (1.7%) is left out: Nashville’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
The commuting and job counts on this page are Census LEHD 2021: Michigan reports later than other states, so its newest year is two years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Nashville could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Getting to work from Nashville takes about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Nashville workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 736 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Michigan: 86% 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.
In and out of Nashville on a workday
On a workday 552 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 204 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Nashville on a workday afternoon, 22% 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 2021, primary jobs.
8% of working residents work in Hastings
Where Nashville clocks in
Lines 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.
The kinds of work in Nashville
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Nashville, 2011 → 2021: 198 → 220. 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 2021.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Nashville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Nashville
About 18% 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 2021.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most trips from Nashville start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Nashville is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, 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 765 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). 10.9% of Nashville households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Nashville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Nashville is 3,696th of 6,161 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,200 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 105 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 174 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 216 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,694 | Perry Township OH | 1,989 | $77K | 18.8% | 2.8% | <1% | C |
| 3,695 | Mount Pleasant Township OH | 2,165 | $72K | 10.7% | 3.0% | 3% | C |
| 3,696 | Nashville MI | 1,605 | $56K | 9.7% | 1.7% | 3% | C |
| 3,697 | Seymour MO | 1,960 | $52K | 31.4% | 1.7% | 15% | C |
| 3,698 | Phelps NY | 1,850 | $71K | 14.7% | 7.6% | 3% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 6,161 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Nashville, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
How Nashville compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Nashville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville | – | C | B+ | 29 min | $56,143 |
| Castleton Township | 4% | D | B− | 29 min | $59,444 |
| Maple Grove Township | under 3% | C | C− | 31 min | $84,500 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Castleton Township. Darker towns draw more of Nashville’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2021, 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 Nashville: questions
What is the median household income in Nashville?
$56,143 (±$6,591) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Nashville?
9.7%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Nashville?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Nashville work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hastings (8%, 10 mi), Odessa Township (5%, 14 mi), Grand Rapids (5%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Nashville walkable?
Nashville is more walkable than 73% 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 Nashville without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Nashville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Nashville
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, 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.