Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki ([email protected]) · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Camden are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 19.8% of residents, next to 13.8% for Tennessee as a whole. The two grades for Camden are C− for jobs and income and C for walkability. At home: 3% of workers have no commute at all (Tennessee 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Camden at work: what stands out
Commutes from Camden are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 26 across Tennessee. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Tennessee worker. Time on the road ↓
Camden is where the jobs are
Camden has 2,321 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Few Camden workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 13% across Tennessee. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Camden
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Camden is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #142 of 177 in Tennessee. Unemployment holds Camden’s grade up (4.4%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Camden could be anywhere from D− to B−.
The trip to work from Camden: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Camden workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,328 commuters (the 3% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Camden
On a workday 1,070 residents head out to work, 339 work right here, and 1,982 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,600 people are in Camden on a workday afternoon, 25% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where the people who work in Camden live
Where Camden clocks in
6% 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.
The kinds of work in Camden
2,321 jobs are based in Camden.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Camden, 2013 → 2023: 2,427 → 2,321. 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 Camden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Camden
About 26% 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.
For most of Camden, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Camden is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns, #105 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 1,369 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). 10.1% of Camden households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Camden’s commuters take a bus or train.
Camden is 3,629th of 4,318 U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Oak Hill TN | 4,581 | $216K | 1.2% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Forest Hills TN | 4,473 | $250K | 6.7% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,627 | Beaufort NC | 4,912 | $53K | 11.2% | 5.7% | 23% | C− |
| 3,628 | Belton SC | 4,631 | $49K | 19.6% | 7.0% | 4% | C− |
| 3,629 | Camden TN | 3,690 | $55K | 19.8% | 4.4% | 24% | C− |
| 3,630 | Cactus TX | 3,165 | $45K | 20.9% | 2.9% | 50% | C− |
| 3,631 | North Canaan CT | 3,231 | $72K | 13.4% | 8.6% | 28% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Camden, 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 Camden: questions
What is the median household income in Camden?
$55,029 (±$21,975) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Camden?
19.8%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Camden?
17 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Camden work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Nashville (7%, 74 mi), Huntingdon (6%, 18 mi), Jackson (5%, 50 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Camden walkable?
Camden is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Camden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Camden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Camden
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.