Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki (thomasmachnitzki.com) · CC BY 3.0Brighton has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
Only 2% work in Brighton; the top destination outside it is Memphis (38%, 29 miles). Brighton has 461 jobs; 1,325 of its residents have a job. For jobs and income Brighton is better than 33% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns (C−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Brighton
Brighton makes and builds things
49% of the jobs based in Brighton are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Brighton residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 21%. The jobs ↓
38% of Brighton works in Memphis
506 working residents, 38%, have their main job in Memphis, 29 miles away. That’s 19 times as many as work in Brighton itself. The commute map ↓
Brighton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 26 across Tennessee. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
How Brighton earns its Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Brighton’s grade up ($80,882, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (7.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brighton could be anywhere from C− to A−.
In Brighton, 49% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brighton, 2013 → 2023: 420 → 461. 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 Brighton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where people from Brighton work
Where Brighton clocks in
38% of workers
13% 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.
How long Brighton spends getting to work: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brighton workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,204 commuters (the 14% 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.
Who leaves Brighton for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,297 residents head out to work, 28 work right here, and 433 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Brighton on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer 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.
Brighton’s commute, mile by mile
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.
The commute in Brighton is mostly behind the wheel
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,397 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). 4.5% of Brighton households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Brighton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Brighton is 3,207th among 4,882 U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Lookout Mountain TN | 2,044 | $201K | 2.3% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 258 | Fairmount TN | 2,110 | $137K | 3.7% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,205 | Bayou L'Ourse LA | 2,132 | $60K | 16.7% | 3.1% | 1% | C |
| 3,206 | Lockport LA | 2,333 | $60K | 10.8% | 5.6% | 3% | C |
| 3,207 | Brighton TN | 2,892 | $81K | 14.9% | 7.7% | 2% | C |
| 3,208 | Somerville TN | 3,622 | $44K | 25.0% | 1.9% | 16% | C |
| 3,209 | Hartford NY | 2,176 | $65K | 8.4% | 8.0% | 5% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Brighton, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
The towns around Brighton
The biggest share goes to Atoka (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Brighton’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 Brighton: questions
What is the median household income in Brighton?
$80,882 (±$16,393) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brighton?
14.9%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brighton?
32 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brighton work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Memphis (38%, 29 mi), Covington (13%, 8 mi), Millington (5%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brighton walkable?
Brighton is more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brighton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brighton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brighton
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.