Ardmore has lower household incomes than 91% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Ardmore are D for jobs and income and C for walkability. 21.6% of residents live below the poverty line; Tennessee has 13.8%. Only 6% stay in Ardmore for work; outside it, Pulaski is the main destination (13%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Ardmore, in brief
Ardmore workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 44 minutes each way, against 26 across Tennessee. Over a year that’s about 337 hours of commuting, 138 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Ardmore
55% of Ardmore residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 34% of the jobs based in Ardmore pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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 395 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Ardmore
On income, poverty and job access, Ardmore is better than 11% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Ardmore’s grade up (ahead of 40% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($47,188, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (6.2%) is left out: Ardmore’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, Ardmore could be anywhere from D to C+.
From Ardmore, about 44 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ardmore workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 414 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across Tennessee: 87% 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.
Half of Ardmore commutes less than 23 miles
About 36% 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.
Jobs in Ardmore: what the 491 are
491 jobs are based in Ardmore.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ardmore, 2013 → 2023: 672 → 491. 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 Ardmore’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Ardmore
On a workday 373 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 469 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.24 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.
The places Ardmore commutes to
Where Ardmore clocks in
13% of workers
7% 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.
Few in Ardmore walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ardmore is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.0% across Tennessee.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 456 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). 5.7% of Ardmore households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ardmore’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700, Ardmore ranks 3,954th of 4,866 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 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 334 | Rossville TN | 1,215 | $120K | 7.3% | 6.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 721 | Orlinda TN | 1,028 | $84K | 6.4% | 3.1% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 804 | Unionville TN | 1,275 | $71K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,952 | Leyden NY | 1,585 | $59K | 13.9% | 13.3% | 3% | D |
| 3,953 | West Yellowstone MT | 1,191 | $59K | 13.1% | 2.3% | 58% | D |
| 3,954 | Ardmore TN | 1,244 | $47K | 21.6% | 6.2% | 6% | D |
| 3,955 | East Oakland Township IL | 1,205 | $52K | 14.6% | 7.5% | 2% | D |
| 3,956 | Crystal Falls Township MI | 1,676 | $58K | 12.8% | 9.3% | 12% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Ardmore, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
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 Ardmore: questions
What is the median household income in Ardmore?
$47,188 (±$13,967) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ardmore?
21.6%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ardmore?
44 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ardmore work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pulaski (13%, 16 mi), Nashville (8%, 80 mi), Huntsville (7%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ardmore walkable?
Ardmore is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ardmore 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 Ardmore, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ardmore
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.