Hardly anyone in Coalfield is out of work
Coalfield grades A− for jobs and income and D− for walkability. For 3% of workers, the job is at home, next to 13% for Tennessee as a whole. Only 1% stay in Coalfield for work; outside it, Oak Ridge is the main destination (28%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Coalfield, in brief
Coalfield is a place people come home to
There are 74 jobs based in Coalfield, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Coalfield has about 1,900 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
28% of Coalfield works in Oak Ridge
269 working residents, 28%, have their main job in Oak Ridge, 9.3 miles away. That’s 28 times as many as work in Coalfield itself. The commute map ↓
Coalfield workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 26 across Tennessee. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 61 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; with 964 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Coalfield’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Coalfield is better than 76% of U.S. towns, #37 of 177 in Tennessee. Unemployment holds Coalfield’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (10.7%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Coalfield could be anywhere from B− to A+.
Coalfield quiets down on a workday
On a workday 954 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 64 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Coalfield on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
0.08 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Coalfield ends
Where Coalfield clocks in
28% of workers
13% of workers
4% 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.
A commute of about 34 minutes in Coalfield
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Coalfield workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,243 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.
Coalfield works in goods: 47% of its jobs
74 jobs are based in Coalfield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Coalfield, 2013 → 2023: 99 → 74. 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 Coalfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Coalfield
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Coalfield, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Coalfield is near the bottom of U.S. towns, #177 of 177 in Tennessee. Both inputs place Coalfield near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,284 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). 1.3% of Coalfield households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Coalfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,969 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700, Coalfield comes 960th on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Lookout Mountain TN | 2,044 | $201K | 2.3% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 205 | Walden TN | 1,965 | $124K | 3.1% | 4.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 958 | Goldsby OK | 3,591 | $103K | 11.2% | 2.4% | 9% | A− |
| 959 | Bingham Township MI | 2,973 | $77K | 6.6% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| 960 | Coalfield TN | 2,754 | $90K | 10.7% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| 961 | Red Hook NY | 1,956 | $107K | 7.9% | 2.4% | 7% | A− |
| 962 | Tuxedo NY | 3,116 | $109K | 9.1% | 2.9% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | 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 Coalfield, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Work in the towns next to Coalfield
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Coalfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coalfield | – | A− | D− | 34 min | $90,104 |
| Oliver Springs | 1% | C | D | 25 min | $51,183 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Oliver Springs. Darker towns draw more of Coalfield’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 Coalfield: questions
What is the median household income in Coalfield?
$90,104 (±$35,987) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Coalfield?
10.7%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Coalfield?
34 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Coalfield work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oak Ridge (28%, 9 mi), Knoxville (13%, 28 mi), Clinton (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Coalfield walkable?
Coalfield is near the bottom of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Coalfield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Coalfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Coalfield
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.