Photo: Andrew P. Bohrman, Stephanie Bohrman · CC BY-SA 4.0About half of Atoka’s working residents commute to Memphis
The average commute takes 36 minutes each way, next to 26 for Tennessee and 26 for the U.S. Atoka grades B+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Only 4% work in Atoka; the top destination outside it is Memphis (47%, 24 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Atoka
Nearly half of Atoka works in Memphis
2,086 working residents, 47%, have their main job in Memphis, 24 miles away. That’s 12 times as many as work in Atoka itself. The commute map ↓
Atoka workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 26 across Tennessee. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Atoka
67% of Atoka residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 42% of the jobs based in Atoka pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
39% of the jobs based in Atoka are held by workers 29 or younger, against 23% of Atoka’s own working residents. The jobs ↓
Atoka is a place people come home to
There are 1,313 jobs based in Atoka, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Atoka has about 7,600 people in it, 29% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
The figures behind Atoka’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Atoka is better than 68% of U.S. towns, #47 of 177 in Tennessee. Household income holds Atoka’s grade up ($89,663, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Atoka could be anywhere from C+ to A.
The towns that employ Atoka’s residents
Where Atoka clocks in
47% of workers
8% of workers
5% 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.
A commute of about 36 minutes in Atoka
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Atoka workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,241 commuters (the 15% 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.
What the 1,313 jobs in Atoka are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Atoka, 2013 → 2023: 1,029 → 1,313. 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 Atoka’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Atoka for work, and who comes in
On a workday 4,230 residents head out to work, 167 work right here, and 1,146 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,600 people are in Atoka on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
0.30 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 commute from Atoka, by distance
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.
In Atoka, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Atoka is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns, #143 of 177 in Tennessee. 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 4,971 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). 1.1% of Atoka households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Atoka’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,214th of 2,878: where Atoka ranks among U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 219 | Signal Mountain TN | 8,824 | $141K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 339 | Harrison TN | 8,011 | $89K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 385 | Tellico Village TN | 7,414 | $107K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,212 | Mad River Township OH | 10,961 | $84K | 8.2% | 4.0% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,213 | Oakwood GA | 7,245 | $68K | 8.1% | 3.0% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,214 | Atoka TN | 10,645 | $90K | 7.0% | 4.5% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,215 | German Township IN | 10,030 | $75K | 7.4% | 3.7% | 10% | B+ |
| 1,216 | Waterford NY | 8,032 | $87K | 8.3% | 4.3% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Atoka, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Around Atoka: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Munford (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Atoka’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 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 Atoka: questions
What is the median household income in Atoka?
$89,663 (±$13,565) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Atoka?
7.0%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Atoka?
36 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Atoka work?
4% work in town.
Is Atoka walkable?
Atoka is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Atoka without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Atoka, from the people who make the trip.
More of Atoka
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.