More than half of Flat Top Mountain’s working residents commute to Chattanooga
Home is the office for 0% of workers, next to 13% for Tennessee as a whole. Flat Top Mountain grades B− for jobs and income and D− for walkability. Measured by household income, Flat Top Mountain is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Flat Top Mountain
More than half of Flat Top Mountain works in Chattanooga
157 working residents, 60%, have their main job in Chattanooga, 19 miles away. That’s far more as work in Flat Top Mountain itself. The commute map ↓
Flat Top Mountain is a place people come home to
There are 8 jobs based in Flat Top Mountain, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Flat Top Mountain has about 750 people in it, 25% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Flat Top Mountain workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 26 across Tennessee. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical 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; with 260 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Flat Top Mountain’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Flat Top Mountain is better than 47% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Flat Top Mountain’s grade up ($121,131, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Flat Top Mountain’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Flat Top Mountain could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Where Flat Top Mountain’s working residents head each day
Where Flat Top Mountain clocks in
60% of workers
5% 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.
Who leaves Flat Top Mountain for work, and who comes in
On a workday 260 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 8 people come in from elsewhere.
About 750 people are in Flat Top Mountain on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
0.03 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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 long Flat Top Mountain spends getting to work: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Flat Top Mountain workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 288 commuters (the 0% 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.
A place that makes things: 50% of Flat Top Mountain’s jobs are in goods
8 jobs are based in Flat Top Mountain.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
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 Flat Top Mountain’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Flat Top Mountain
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.
Flat Top Mountain is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Flat Top Mountain is near the bottom of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Flat Top Mountain 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 288 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Flat Top Mountain households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Flat Top Mountain’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Flat Top Mountain ranks: 1,123rd of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 186 | Rossville TN | 1,215 | $120K | 7.3% | 6.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 428 | Orlinda TN | 1,028 | $84K | 6.4% | 3.1% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 480 | Unionville TN | 1,275 | $71K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,121 | Summit NY | 1,075 | $74K | 3.9% | 9.0% | 0% | B− |
| 1,122 | Washington VT | 1,063 | $66K | 3.2% | 6.0% | 3% | B− |
| 1,123 | Flat Top Mountain TN | 1,004 | $121K | 15.1% | 0.0% | 0% | B− |
| 1,124 | Tangent OR | 1,245 | $99K | 20.4% | 14.9% | 2% | B− |
| 1,125 | Yoe PA | 1,058 | $59K | 10.8% | 4.7% | 0% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Flat Top Mountain, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Flat Top Mountain and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Soddy-Daisy (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Flat Top Mountain workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flat Top Mountain | – | B− | D− | 33 min | $121,131 |
| Mowbray Mountain | under 2% | B+ | D− | 29 min | $93,293 |
| Soddy-Daisy | 5% | B− | C− | 27 min | $75,113 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Flat Top Mountain’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 Flat Top Mountain: questions
What is the median household income in Flat Top Mountain?
$121,131 (±$1,225) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Flat Top Mountain?
15.1%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Flat Top Mountain?
33 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Flat Top Mountain work?
0% work in town.
Is Flat Top Mountain walkable?
Flat Top Mountain is near the bottom of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 2.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Flat Top Mountain without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Flat Top Mountain, from the people who make the trip.
More of Flat Top Mountain
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.