Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture · CC BY-SA 4.0Chattanooga draws 127,102 commuters a day, with 2.4 jobs for every working resident
176,670 jobs are based in Chattanooga for 73,907 working residents. Chattanooga grades C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 7.4 in Nashville.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Chattanooga apart
Chattanooga is where the jobs are
Chattanooga has 176,670 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 297,000 people are in town, 53% more than the 194,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Chattanooga are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 26 across Tennessee. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Tennessee worker. Time on the road ↓
Chattanooga draws workers from far and wide
The 176,670 jobs in Chattanooga are filled from a wide area. Chattanooga’s own residents hold 28% and the ten next-biggest home towns 16%; the other 56% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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 four measures behind Chattanooga’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Chattanooga is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #93 of 177 in Tennessee. Job access by car holds Chattanooga’s grade up (ahead of 81% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (19.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Chattanooga could be anywhere from C to C+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Chattanooga
On a workday 24,339 residents head out to work and 49,568 work right here.
About 297,000 people are in Chattanooga on a workday afternoon, 53% more 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.
About 19 minutes each way, quicker than most of Tennessee
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chattanooga workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 77,701 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.
Where the people who work in Chattanooga live
Where Chattanooga clocks in
2% of workers
2% 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.
What Chattanooga’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chattanooga, 2013 → 2023: 160,680 → 176,670. 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 Chattanooga’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Chattanooga to work
About 19% 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.
In Chattanooga, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chattanooga is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #6 of 177 in Tennessee. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 89,903 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 50% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 23% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 78% 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). 8.6% of Chattanooga households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Chattanooga’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
For jobs and income, Chattanooga is 107th of 148 U.S. towns of 136,000 to 262,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| 3 | Olathe KS | 150,025 | $114K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 26% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Murfreesboro TN | 171,178 | $80K | 8.8% | 4.3% | 28% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 105 | Wayne Township IN | 150,959 | $57K | 18.5% | 5.3% | 15% | C+ |
| 106 | Clarksville TN | 188,829 | $69K | 12.3% | 5.5% | 38% | C+ |
| 107 | Chattanooga TN | 194,144 | $65K | 19.1% | 5.4% | 67% | C+ |
| 108 | Knoxville TN | 202,021 | $54K | 20.2% | 4.5% | 52% | C+ |
| 109 | Worcester MA | 213,862 | $70K | 19.6% | 6.5% | 37% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 148 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Chattanooga, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
How Chattanooga compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to East Ridge (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chattanooga workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chattanooga | – | C+ | A− | 19 min | $64,523 |
| Harrison | under 1% | A | D | 27 min | $89,395 |
| East Ridge | 2% | C+ | B+ | 21 min | $62,247 |
| Lookout Mountain | under 1% | A+ | C+ | 19 min | $201,000 |
| Middle Valley | under 1% | A− | D | 24 min | $95,000 |
| Collegedale | 1% | A− | B+ | 22 min | $70,246 |
| Soddy-Daisy | under 1% | B− | C− | 27 min | $75,113 |
| Falling Water | under 1% | A | C | 26 min | $111,842 |
| Signal Mountain | under 1% | A+ | B− | 28 min | $141,008 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Chattanooga’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 Chattanooga: questions
What is the median household income in Chattanooga?
$64,523 (±$1,964) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chattanooga?
19.1%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chattanooga?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chattanooga work?
67% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Nashville (4%, 115 mi), Knoxville (2%, 96 mi), East Ridge (2%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chattanooga walkable?
Chattanooga is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chattanooga without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 23% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chattanooga, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chattanooga
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.