Photo: Jphill19 · CC BY-SA 4.0Work means Lawton for more than half of Chattanooga’s working residents
There are 94 jobs in Chattanooga; 152 of its residents have a job. Only 3% work in Chattanooga; the top destination outside it is Lawton (54%, 19 miles). A typical one-way commute from Chattanooga lasts 26 minutes (Oklahoma 22, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Chattanooga on a workday afternoon
On a workday 148 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 90 people come in from elsewhere.
About 350 people are in Chattanooga on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.62 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The places Chattanooga commutes to
Where Chattanooga clocks in
54% of workers
9% 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.
The kinds of work in Chattanooga
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chattanooga, 2013 → 2023: 116 → 94. 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 Chattanooga’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 26 minutes each way for Chattanooga’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chattanooga workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 136 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across Oklahoma: 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.
Miles to work from Chattanooga
About 30% 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 Chattanooga: questions
What is the median household income in Chattanooga?
$53,438 (±$15,021) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chattanooga?
16.3%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chattanooga?
26 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chattanooga work?
3% work in town.
Can you get around Chattanooga without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chattanooga, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chattanooga
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.