Bluff City has 1.3 jobs for every working resident: 916 people commute in to work
Jobs & income C: better than 26% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access.
Walkability C−: more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns.
Household incomes here are lower than in 72% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 26 minutes each way (Tennessee 26, U.S. 26). Only 2% work in Bluff City; the top destination outside it is Johnson City (23%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Bluff City
Bluff City and Johnson City trade workers both ways
Johnson City is the top workplace for Bluff City residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Bluff City come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Bluff City makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in Bluff City are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Bluff City residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 22%. 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 705 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Bluff City’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bluff City is better than 26% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Bluff City’s grade up (ahead of 62% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.8%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bluff City could be anywhere from D to A−.
23% of working residents work in Johnson City
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Bluff City clocks in
23% of workers
14% of workers
11% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Bluff City makes things: 35% of its jobs are in goods
932 jobs are based in Bluff City. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bluff City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bluff City, 2013 → 2023: 925 → 932. 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.
Bluff City fills up on a workday
On a workday 689 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 916 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Bluff City on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.32 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.
About 26 minutes each way, about the TN average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bluff City workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 831 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.
Half of Bluff City commutes less than 11 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
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 2023.
Most trips from Bluff City start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bluff City is more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% of 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 982 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.5% of Bluff City households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Bluff City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bluff City is 3,631st of 5,656 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Bluff City, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Lookout Mountain TN | 2,044 | $201K | 2.3% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 195 | Walden TN | 1,965 | $124K | 3.1% | 4.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 230 | Fairmount TN | 2,110 | $137K | 3.7% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,629 | Pagosa Springs CO | 1,838 | $51K | 18.2% | 0.0% | 49% | C |
| 3,630 | Lake Lure NC | 1,391 | $80K | 11.5% | 6.3% | 17% | C |
| 3,631 | Bluff City TN | 1,836 | $61K | 15.3% | 6.8% | 2% | C |
| 3,632 | Jefferson Township OH | 1,839 | $60K | 13.1% | 2.9% | 4% | C |
| 3,633 | Mount Holly VT | 1,373 | $78K | 11.9% | 1.3% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | 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.
14% of Bluff City works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Bristol (14%). Darker towns draw more of Bluff City’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bluff City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluff City | – | C | C− | 26 min | $61,059 |
| Bristol | 14% | C | B− | 21 min | $58,162 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Bluff City: questions
What is the median household income in Bluff City?
$61,059 (±$5,728) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bluff City?
15.3%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bluff City?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bluff City work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Johnson City (23%, 10 mi), Bristol (14%, 8 mi), Kingsport (11%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bluff City walkable?
Bluff City is more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bluff City without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bluff City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bluff City
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.