Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0A job hub: Athens has 2.1 jobs per working resident, and 10,255 people come in to work
The two grades for Athens are C− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Athens has 12,135 jobs, against 5,645 working residents. Measured by household income, Athens is behind 83% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Athens and work: the main findings
Athens’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Athens is Chattanooga, 45 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (474) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Athens is where the jobs are
Athens has 12,135 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 22,000 people are in town, 43% more than the 15,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Athens draws workers from far and wide
The 12,135 jobs in Athens are filled from a wide area. Athens’ own residents hold 15% and the ten next-biggest home towns 14%; the other 71% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Athens’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Athens is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #134 of 177 in Tennessee. Job access by car holds Athens’ grade up (ahead of 53% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($53,929, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Athens could be anywhere from D to C+.
Miles to work from Athens
About 19% 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.
Who leaves Athens for work, and who comes in
On a workday 3,765 residents head out to work and 1,880 work right here.
About 22,000 people are in Athens on a workday afternoon, 43% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where the people who work in Athens live
Where Athens clocks in
8% 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.
Making and building: 29% of jobs based in Athens
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Athens, 2013 → 2023: 11,606 → 12,135. 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 Athens’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Athens takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Athens workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,118 commuters (the 5% 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.
In Athens, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Athens is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns, #36 of 177 in Tennessee. Both inputs place Athens near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,434 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). 4.9% of Athens households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Athens’ commuters take a bus or train.
Athens is 1,848th of 2,109 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Nolensville TN | 15,789 | $177K | 2.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 190 | Lakeland TN | 14,422 | $116K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 340 | Arlington TN | 15,703 | $135K | 4.9% | 3.4% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,846 | Mount Pleasant MI | 20,925 | $45K | 31.4% | 7.6% | 32% | C− |
| 1,847 | Lemon Hill CA | 15,312 | $49K | 32.0% | 8.7% | 2% | C− |
| 1,848 | Athens TN | 15,263 | $54K | 17.0% | 6.2% | 33% | C− |
| 1,849 | St. Andrews SC | 19,868 | $47K | 25.4% | 7.2% | 3% | C− |
| 1,850 | The Dalles OR | 15,745 | $63K | 11.0% | 7.7% | 41% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Athens, 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 Athens: questions
What is the median household income in Athens?
$53,929 (±$7,727) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Athens?
17.0%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Athens?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Athens work?
33% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chattanooga (8%, 45 mi), Cleveland (7%, 24 mi), Nashville (4%, 132 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Athens walkable?
Athens is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Athens without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Athens, from the people who make the trip.
More of Athens
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.