Colonial Heights has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
The average commute takes 19 minutes each way (Tennessee 26, U.S. 26). Colonial Heights has 137 jobs for 1,249 working residents. Jobs and income earn Colonial Heights B+; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Colonial Heights in brief
Colonial Heights and Kingsport trade workers both ways
Kingsport is the top workplace for Colonial Heights residents (44%) and also where the most people who work in Colonial Heights come from (28% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Colonial Heights is a place people come home to
There are 137 jobs based in Colonial Heights, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Colonial Heights has about 2,100 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Colonial Heights 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 ↓
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.
Where Colonial Heights’ Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Colonial Heights is better than 70% of U.S. towns, #44 of 177 in Tennessee. The poverty rate holds Colonial Heights’ grade up (4.7%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Colonial Heights could be anywhere from B− to A.
44% of working residents work in Kingsport
Where Colonial Heights clocks in
44% of workers
14% 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.
Colonial Heights by day and by night
On a workday 1,247 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 135 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Colonial Heights on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer 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 for Colonial Heights’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Colonial Heights workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,434 commuters (the 15% 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.
Jobs in Colonial Heights: what the 137 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Colonial Heights, 2013 → 2023: 161 → 137. 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 Colonial Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Colonial Heights
About 15% 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.
Colonial Heights is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Colonial Heights is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #61 of 177 in Tennessee. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% of 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 1,678 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). 1.0% of Colonial Heights households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Colonial Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
Colonial Heights next to U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,400: 1,246th of 4,453 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 399 | Piperton TN | 2,889 | $130K | 4.6% | 3.5% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 417 | Falling Water TN | 2,315 | $112K | 7.3% | 1.5% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,244 | Circle D-KC Estates TX | 3,135 | $94K | 9.8% | 1.9% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,245 | Monticello IA | 4,104 | $70K | 6.0% | 0.8% | 31% | B+ |
| 1,246 | Colonial Heights TN | 3,258 | $80K | 4.7% | 4.5% | <1% | B+ |
| 1,247 | Montgomery MN | 3,539 | $79K | 5.8% | 3.0% | 14% | B+ |
| 1,248 | Goodview MN | 4,122 | $75K | 5.9% | 2.1% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,453 | 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 Colonial Heights, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Colonial Heights and its neighbors: 44% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Colonial Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colonial Heights | – | B+ | B− | 19 min | $80,148 |
| Kingsport | 44% | C | B | 19 min | $52,490 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Kingsport. Darker towns draw more of Colonial Heights’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 Colonial Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Colonial Heights?
$80,148 (±$7,380) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Colonial Heights?
4.7%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Colonial Heights?
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 Colonial Heights work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kingsport (44%, 3 mi), Johnson City (14%, 12 mi), Bristol (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Colonial Heights walkable?
Colonial Heights is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Colonial Heights without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Colonial Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Colonial Heights
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.