Sequatchie County Courthouse · Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Households in Dunlap have lower incomes than those in 92% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Dunlap; the top destination outside it is Chattanooga (24%, 22 miles). Below the poverty line: 34.3% of residents; Tennessee has 13.8%. Jobs and income earn Dunlap D; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Dunlap stands out on work
Dunlap’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Dunlap is Chattanooga, 22 miles away as the crow flies. 24% of working residents (490) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Dunlap has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Dunlap went from 2,192 in 2013 to 3,009 in 2023, +37%. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Dunlap
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dunlap is better than 6% of U.S. towns, #171 of 177 in Tennessee. Job access by car holds Dunlap’s grade up (ahead of 43% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dunlap could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Dunlap’s commute, mile by mile
About 24% 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.
The 3,009 jobs based in Dunlap
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dunlap, 2013 → 2023: 2,192 → 3,009. 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 Dunlap’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Dunlap on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,530 residents head out to work, 517 work right here, and 2,492 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,100 people are in Dunlap on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 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 Dunlap’s residents
Where Dunlap clocks in
24% of workers
2% 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.
Time on the road from Dunlap: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dunlap workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,318 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.
In Dunlap, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dunlap is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns, #46 of 177 in Tennessee. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% 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 1,620 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). 7.1% of Dunlap households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dunlap’s commuters take a bus or train.
Dunlap next to U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Forest Hills TN | 4,473 | $250K | 6.7% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 324 | Harrison TN | 8,011 | $89K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,186 | Glennville GA | 5,023 | $53K | 19.1% | 9.9% | 18% | D |
| 3,187 | Walhalla SC | 4,320 | $36K | 45.9% | 6.5% | 11% | D |
| 3,188 | Dunlap TN | 6,089 | $46K | 34.3% | 12.2% | 25% | D |
| 3,189 | Avra Valley AZ | 6,277 | $54K | 18.8% | 13.4% | 2% | D |
| 3,190 | Seaside OR | 7,092 | $47K | 17.6% | 8.1% | 31% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,307 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Dunlap, 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 Dunlap: questions
What is the median household income in Dunlap?
$45,589 (±$10,966) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dunlap?
34.3%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dunlap?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dunlap work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chattanooga (24%, 22 mi), Nashville (4%, 96 mi), Knoxville (2%, 91 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dunlap walkable?
Dunlap is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dunlap without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dunlap, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dunlap
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.