Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Hampton trail those of 96% of U.S. towns
19.9% of residents live below the poverty line (Tennessee 13.8%). Hampton grades D for jobs and income and D for walkability. For 0% of workers, the job is at home, next to 13% for Tennessee as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Hampton at work: what stands out
Hampton is a place people come home to
There are 180 jobs based in Hampton, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Hampton has about 1,300 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few Hampton workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 13% across Tennessee. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 786 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Hampton: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Hampton is better than 14% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Hampton’s grade up (ahead of 54% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($39,028, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (2.9%) is left out: Hampton’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, Hampton could be anywhere from D to C.
A workday in Hampton: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 773 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 167 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Hampton on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
0.23 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.
About 24 minutes to work from Hampton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hampton workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 745 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.
26% of working residents work in Johnson City
Where Hampton clocks in
26% of workers
23% 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.
What Hampton’s employers do
180 jobs are based in Hampton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hampton, 2013 → 2023: 187 → 180. 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 Hampton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Hampton
About 19% 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.
For most of Hampton, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hampton is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Hampton 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 745 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). 15.3% of Hampton households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Hampton’s commuters take a bus or train.
4,425th of 5,656: where Hampton ranks among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Lookout Mountain TN | 2,044 | $201K | 2.3% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 195 | Walden TN | 1,965 | $124K | 3.1% | 4.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 230 | Fairmount TN | 2,110 | $137K | 3.7% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,423 | Poplar-Cotton Center CA | 2,171 | $51K | 26.1% | 5.3% | 1% | D |
| 4,424 | Utica SC | 1,339 | $55K | 26.8% | 12.2% | 1% | D |
| 4,425 | Hampton TN | 1,883 | $39K | 19.9% | 2.9% | 2% | D |
| 4,426 | Leon IA | 1,773 | $54K | 10.7% | 0.8% | 22% | D |
| 4,427 | Crooksville OH | 2,404 | $47K | 30.7% | 3.8% | 9% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Hampton, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Around Hampton: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hampton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampton | – | D | D | 24 min | $39,028 |
| Valley Forge | under 2% | B− | C+ | 20 min | $54,631 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Hampton’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 Hampton: questions
What is the median household income in Hampton?
$39,028 (±$12,139) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hampton?
19.9%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hampton?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hampton work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Johnson City (26%, 12 mi), Elizabethton (23%, 6 mi), Kingsport (4%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hampton walkable?
Hampton is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hampton without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hampton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hampton
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.