Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Caryville trail those of 79% of U.S. towns
Only 2% work in Caryville; the top destination outside it is Knoxville (16%, 27 miles). 18.4% of residents are in poverty, next to 13.8% for Tennessee as a whole. Jobs and income earn Caryville C−; getting around on foot earns it D.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Caryville
Caryville’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Caryville is Knoxville, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (142) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Caryville makes and builds things
46% of the jobs based in Caryville are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Caryville residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Caryville than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Caryville fell from 952 in 2014 to 649 in 2024, −32%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 909 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Caryville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Caryville is better than 21% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Caryville’s grade up (ahead of 49% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (8.6%) is left out: Caryville’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Caryville could be anywhere from D to B−.
The distance from Caryville to work
About 16% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Caryville works in goods: 46% of its jobs
649 jobs are based in Caryville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Caryville, 2014 → 2024: 952 → 649. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Caryville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Caryville
On a workday 888 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 628 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Caryville on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.71 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Caryville ends
Where Caryville clocks in
16% of workers
12% of workers
9% 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 Caryville spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Caryville workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 723 commuters (the 13% 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.
Getting around Caryville: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Caryville is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns. 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 827 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). 0.5% of Caryville households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Caryville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Caryville is 3,775th among 5,102 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Lookout Mountain TN | 2,044 | $201K | 2.3% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 186 | Walden TN | 1,965 | $124K | 3.1% | 4.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,773 | Hopkins SC | 1,985 | $50K | 25.7% | 31.1% | 1% | C− |
| 3,774 | Bishopville SC | 2,829 | $39K | 29.9% | 3.1% | 13% | C− |
| 3,775 | Caryville TN | 2,217 | $56K | 18.4% | 8.6% | 2% | C− |
| 3,776 | Waverly VA | 1,936 | $50K | 7.8% | 10.8% | 5% | C− |
| 3,777 | Parish NY | 2,400 | $68K | 15.3% | 8.7% | 13% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Caryville, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Next door to Caryville
The biggest share goes to Jacksboro (6%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Caryville’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 2024, 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 Caryville: questions
What is the median household income in Caryville?
$56,394 (±$15,490) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Caryville?
18.4%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Caryville?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Caryville work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Knoxville (16%, 27 mi), Clinton (12%, 15 mi), Oak Ridge (9%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Caryville walkable?
Caryville is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Caryville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Caryville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Caryville
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.