Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHouseholds in Erin have lower incomes than those in 98% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers, next to 13% for Tennessee as a whole. The poverty rate is 21.9%, where Tennessee as a whole has 13.8%. Erin grades D− 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
What stands out about work in Erin
Erin is where the jobs are
Erin has 799 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Erin’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Erin is Clarksville, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (48) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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; with 423 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Erin
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Erin’s grade.
Unemployment (6.9%) is left out: Erin’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Erin could be anywhere from D− to D.
A workday in Erin: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 358 residents head out to work, 65 work right here, and 734 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Erin on a workday afternoon, 31% more than live here.
1.9 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.
How far Erin goes to work
About 31% 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.
Where the people who work in Erin live
Where Erin clocks in
11% of workers
7% 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.
Most jobs in Erin are in services
799 jobs are based in Erin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Erin, 2013 → 2023: 1,040 → 799. 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 Erin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Erin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Erin workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 361 commuters (the 2% 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.
Most of Erin commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Erin is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.0% across Tennessee, on an EPA index of 7.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 367 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). 9.4% of Erin households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Erin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Erin and other U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 289 | Rossville TN | 1,215 | $120K | 7.3% | 6.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 631 | Orlinda TN | 1,028 | $84K | 6.4% | 3.1% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 708 | Unionville TN | 1,275 | $71K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,172 | Edina MO | 1,014 | $42K | 22.4% | 1.7% | 15% | D− |
| 4,173 | Senath MO | 1,504 | $32K | 24.2% | 2.5% | 10% | D− |
| 4,174 | Erin TN | 1,207 | $36K | 21.9% | 6.9% | 15% | D− |
| 4,175 | Crosbyton TX | 1,407 | $39K | 26.9% | 4.6% | 20% | D− |
| 4,176 | Sylvan Township MI | 1,012 | $44K | 20.5% | 3.8% | 1% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Erin, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
How Erin compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Tennessee Ridge (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Erin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erin | – | D− | B+ | 25 min | $36,488 |
| Tennessee Ridge | 3% | C− | C− | 35 min | $74,271 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Erin’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 Erin: questions
What is the median household income in Erin?
$36,488 (±$18,231) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Erin?
21.9%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Erin?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Erin work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Clarksville (11%, 26 mi), Dickson (7%, 26 mi), Nashville (7%, 52 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Erin walkable?
Erin is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Erin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Erin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Erin
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.