Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Dresden draws 1,965 commuters a day, with 2.1 jobs for every working resident
Household incomes here are lower than in 87% of U.S. towns. Dresden has 2,203 jobs, and 1,052 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Dresden are C− for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Dresden, in a few figures
Dresden is where the jobs are
Dresden has 2,203 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,100 people are in town, 40% more than the 2,900 who live here. Day and night ↓
Dresden and Martin trade workers both ways
Martin is the top workplace for Dresden residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Dresden come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Dresden
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dresden is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #140 of 177 in Tennessee. The poverty rate holds Dresden’s grade up (10.6%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($51,000, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dresden could be anywhere from D− to B+.
Who leaves Dresden for work, and who comes in
On a workday 814 residents head out to work and 238 work right here.
About 4,100 people are in Dresden on a workday afternoon, 40% more 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.
Who travels to work in Dresden, and from where
Where Dresden clocks in
24% of workers
7% 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.
The kinds of work in Dresden
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dresden, 2013 → 2023: 2,312 → 2,203. 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 Dresden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Dresden: about 25 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dresden workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,231 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.
Dresden’s commute, mile by mile
About 20% 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.
Most of Dresden commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dresden is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns, #58 of 177 in Tennessee. Both inputs place Dresden 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 1,332 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). 6.5% of Dresden households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dresden’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900, Dresden ranks 3,944th of 4,882 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Lookout Mountain TN | 2,044 | $201K | 2.3% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 258 | Fairmount TN | 2,110 | $137K | 3.7% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,942 | Barker NY | 2,458 | $64K | 20.5% | 7.0% | 3% | C− |
| 3,943 | Sabina OH | 2,437 | $49K | 22.7% | 3.8% | 6% | C− |
| 3,944 | Dresden TN | 2,911 | $51K | 10.6% | 6.3% | 23% | C− |
| 3,945 | Troy Township OH | 2,444 | $56K | 10.3% | 6.1% | 4% | C− |
| 3,946 | Kelly Ridge CA | 2,825 | $55K | 12.3% | 5.8% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | 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 Dresden, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
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 Dresden: questions
What is the median household income in Dresden?
$51,000 (±$11,000) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dresden?
10.6%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dresden?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dresden work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Martin (24%, 9 mi), Union City (7%, 22 mi), Memphis (4%, 108 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dresden walkable?
Dresden is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dresden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dresden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dresden
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.