Photo: AppalachianCentrist · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Dandridge (9.6%) than in 93% of U.S. towns
About one in ten stay in Dandridge for work; outside it, Knoxville is the main destination (16%, 29 miles). Dandridge grades C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 83% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Dandridge, in brief
Dandridge is where the jobs are
Dandridge has 2,869 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Dandridge’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Dandridge is Knoxville, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (229) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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 figures behind Dandridge’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dandridge is better than 19% of U.S. towns, #138 of 177 in Tennessee. Job access by car holds Dandridge’s grade up (ahead of 60% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dandridge could be anywhere from D to B.
Who leaves Dandridge for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,273 residents head out to work, 138 work right here, and 2,731 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,400 people are in Dandridge on a workday afternoon, 37% more than live here.
2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Half of Dandridge commutes less than 18 miles
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.
Commuting in to Dandridge: where workers come from
Where Dandridge clocks in
16% of workers
10% 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.
The 2,869 jobs based in Dandridge
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dandridge, 2013 → 2023: 2,637 → 2,869. 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 Dandridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 29 minutes in Dandridge
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dandridge workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,318 commuters (the 9% 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.
For most of Dandridge, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dandridge is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #19 of 177 in Tennessee. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.5% 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 1,450 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). 0.4% of Dandridge households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dandridge’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,084 U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,300, Dandridge comes 3,360th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Oak Hill TN | 4,581 | $216K | 1.2% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Forest Hills TN | 4,473 | $250K | 6.7% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 401 | Piperton TN | 2,889 | $130K | 4.6% | 3.5% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,358 | Hephzibah GA | 3,815 | $65K | 20.9% | 6.8% | 3% | C− |
| 3,359 | Columbia KY | 4,680 | $47K | 18.3% | 4.4% | 29% | C− |
| 3,360 | Dandridge TN | 3,947 | $54K | 15.1% | 9.6% | 10% | C− |
| 3,361 | Broken Bow OK | 4,211 | $40K | 34.4% | 1.6% | 22% | C− |
| 3,362 | Duquesne PA | 5,019 | $44K | 22.9% | 9.1% | 4% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,084 | 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 Dandridge, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Around Dandridge: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Jefferson City (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dandridge workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dandridge | – | C− | B+ | 29 min | $53,507 |
| Jefferson City | 4% | C | B+ | 27 min | $60,638 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Dandridge’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 Dandridge: questions
What is the median household income in Dandridge?
$53,507 (±$9,290) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dandridge?
15.1%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dandridge?
29 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dandridge work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Knoxville (16%, 29 mi), Morristown (10%, 14 mi), Sevierville (9%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dandridge walkable?
Dandridge is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dandridge 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 Dandridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dandridge
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.