Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Erwin’s household incomes are lower than in 90% of U.S. towns
5% of workers work from home, where Tennessee as a whole has 13%. 12.6% of residents are in poverty; Tennessee has 13.8%. The two grades for Erwin 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
Getting to work from Erwin, in brief
Erwin and Johnson City trade workers both ways
Johnson City is the top workplace for Erwin residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Erwin come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Erwin makes and builds things
37% of the jobs based in Erwin are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Erwin residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 24%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Erwin are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 26 across Tennessee. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Tennessee worker. Time on the road ↓
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 Erwin’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Erwin is better than 38% of U.S. towns, #88 of 177 in Tennessee. Unemployment holds Erwin’s grade up (3.2%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($47,487, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Erwin could be anywhere from C− to B.
25% of working residents work in Johnson City
Where Erwin clocks in
25% of workers
7% of workers
3% 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.
A place that makes things: 37% of Erwin’s jobs are in goods
3,268 jobs are based in Erwin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Erwin, 2013 → 2023: 3,768 → 3,268. 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 Erwin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Erwin: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Erwin workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,576 commuters (the 5% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Erwin
On a workday 1,745 residents head out to work, 542 work right here, and 2,726 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,000 people are in Erwin on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.43 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.
Half of Erwin commutes less than 14 miles
About 16% 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 commute in Erwin is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Erwin is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns, #14 of 177 in Tennessee. Both inputs place Erwin 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 2,703 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). 7.5% of Erwin households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Erwin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Erwin places 2,270th of 3,394 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,100
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 325 | Harrison TN | 8,011 | $89K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,268 | Morrow GA | 6,211 | $74K | 19.1% | 8.8% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,269 | Carterville IL | 5,839 | $62K | 10.9% | 4.7% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,270 | Erwin TN | 6,019 | $47K | 12.6% | 3.2% | 24% | C+ |
| 2,271 | Hardy Township OH | 6,067 | $63K | 12.4% | 4.0% | 23% | C+ |
| 2,272 | Whiting IN | 4,479 | $72K | 17.1% | 11.3% | 15% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,394 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Erwin, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
How Erwin compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Erwin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erwin | – | C+ | B+ | 21 min | $47,487 |
| Banner Hill | under 2% | C− | D | 26 min | $59,784 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Erwin’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 Erwin: questions
What is the median household income in Erwin?
$47,487 (±$14,108) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Erwin?
12.6%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Erwin?
21 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Erwin work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Johnson City (25%, 14 mi), Kingsport (7%, 27 mi), Unicoi (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Erwin walkable?
Erwin is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Erwin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Erwin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Erwin
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.