More than half of Collegedale’s working residents commute to Chattanooga
The trip to work takes 22 minutes on average; Tennessee averages 26, the U.S. 26. Collegedale grades A− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Only 4% work in Collegedale itself; outside it, Chattanooga draws the most (53%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Collegedale
Collegedale has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Collegedale went from 2,391 in 2013 to 3,253 in 2023, +36%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Collegedale’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Collegedale is better than 75% of U.S. towns, #38 of 177 in Tennessee. Unemployment holds Collegedale’s grade up (1.6%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($70,246, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Collegedale could be anywhere from B− to A.
Inside Collegedale’s 3,253 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Collegedale, 2013 → 2023: 2,391 → 3,253. 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 Collegedale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 3,960 residents head out to work, 158 work right here, and 3,095 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.79 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Collegedale’s residents
Where Collegedale clocks in
53% 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.
Collegedale’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Collegedale workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,872 commuters (the 19% 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 commute from Collegedale, by distance
About 22% 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.
Driving is how Collegedale gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Collegedale is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #20 of 177 in Tennessee. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 12.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.0% across Tennessee, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,998 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 4.0% of Collegedale households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Collegedale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000, Collegedale ranks 975th of 2,695 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Nolensville TN | 15,789 | $177K | 2.1% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 217 | Signal Mountain TN | 8,824 | $141K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 227 | Lakeland TN | 14,422 | $116K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 973 | East Manchester Township PA | 8,703 | $102K | 3.4% | 6.0% | 6% | A− |
| 974 | Chesapeake Ranch Estates MD | 9,241 | $103K | 4.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A− |
| 975 | Collegedale TN | 11,499 | $70K | 7.3% | 1.6% | 4% | A− |
| 976 | River Ridge LA | 13,312 | $84K | 9.7% | 3.3% | 4% | A− |
| 977 | Lincolnwood IL | 13,039 | $110K | 6.3% | 7.8% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Collegedale, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Next door is work for 58% of Collegedale
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Collegedale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collegedale | – | A− | B+ | 22 min | $70,246 |
| Apison | 5% | A− | D− | 26 min | $129,307 |
| Chattanooga | 53% | C+ | A− | 19 min | $64,523 |
| Ooltewah | under 1% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Ooltewah: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Chattanooga. Darker towns draw more of Collegedale’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 Collegedale: questions
What is the median household income in Collegedale?
$70,246 (±$14,040) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Collegedale?
7.3%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Collegedale?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Collegedale work?
4% work in town.
Is Collegedale walkable?
Collegedale is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Collegedale without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Collegedale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Collegedale
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.