Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 2.5Cosby has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
Commuters spend 53 minutes getting to work on average, next to 26 for Tennessee and 26 for the U.S. 24 jobs are based in Cosby for 322 working residents. Hardly any stay in Cosby for work; outside it, Gatlinburg is the main destination (21%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Cosby at work: what stands out
Cosby workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 53 minutes each way, against 26 across Tennessee. Over a year that’s about 406 hours of commuting, 207 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Cosby is a place people come home to
There are 24 jobs based in Cosby, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Cosby has about 480 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 322 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Each way, about 53 minutes from Cosby
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 16.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cosby workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 437 commuters (the 8% 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.
A workday in Cosby: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 320 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 22 people come in from elsewhere.
About 480 people are in Cosby on a workday afternoon, 38% 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.
Where people from Cosby work
Where Cosby clocks in
11% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 58% of the jobs in Cosby
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cosby, 2013 → 2023: 17 → 24. 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 Cosby’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Cosby
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.
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 Cosby: questions
What is the median household income in Cosby?
$91,563 (±$39,723) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cosby?
12.3%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cosby?
53 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cosby work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Gatlinburg (21%, 15 mi), Newport (11%, 12 mi), Pigeon Forge (9%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Cosby without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cosby, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cosby
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.