At 1.4%, unemployment in Harrison is lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
There are 238 jobs in Harrison, against 3,287 working residents. Harrison grades A for jobs and income and D for walkability. The average commute takes 27 minutes each way, next to 26 for Tennessee and 26 for the U.S. Household incomes here are higher than in 67% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Harrison, in a few figures
More than half of Harrison works in Chattanooga
2,124 working residents, 65%, have their main job in Chattanooga, 7 miles away across the town line. That’s 65 times as many as work in Harrison itself. The commute map ↓
Harrison is a place people come home to
There are 238 jobs based in Harrison, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Harrison has about 5,000 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Harrison than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Harrison fell from 378 in 2013 to 238 in 2023, −37%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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.
What’s behind Harrison’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Harrison is better than 92% of U.S. towns, #12 of 177 in Tennessee. Unemployment is its strongest input; household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($89,395, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Harrison could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
65% of working residents work in Chattanooga
Where Harrison clocks in
65% 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 workday in Harrison: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,265 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 216 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,000 people are in Harrison on a workday afternoon, 38% fewer than live here.
0.07 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Harrison
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Harrison, 2013 → 2023: 378 → 238. 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 Harrison’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Harrison: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Harrison workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,234 commuters (the 9% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Harrison
About 18% 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.
In Harrison, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Harrison is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns, #167 of 177 in Tennessee. Both inputs place Harrison 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 4,651 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). 2.9% of Harrison households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Harrison’s commuters take a bus or train.
Harrison next to U.S. towns of 5,600 to 10,800: 337th of 3,015 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 224 | Signal Mountain TN | 8,824 | $141K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 335 | Ohio Township PA | 7,268 | $153K | 3.6% | 4.3% | 4% | A |
| 336 | East Kapolei HI | 7,551 | $119K | 5.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| 337 | Harrison TN | 8,011 | $89K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A |
| 338 | Lititz PA | 9,689 | $89K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 11% | A |
| 339 | New London Township PA | 5,881 | $165K | 4.1% | 1.4% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 380 | Tellico Village TN | 7,414 | $107K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 529 | Greenbrier TN | 7,170 | $85K | 6.0% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,015 | 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 Harrison, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Bordering towns draw 65% of Harrison’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Harrison workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison | – | A | D | 27 min | $89,395 |
| Chattanooga | 65% | C+ | A− | 19 min | $64,523 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Chattanooga. Darker towns draw more of Harrison’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 Harrison: questions
What is the median household income in Harrison?
$89,395 (±$16,468) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Harrison?
3.9%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Harrison?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Harrison work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chattanooga (65%, 7 mi), Cleveland (3%, 16 mi), Nashville (3%, 117 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Harrison walkable?
Harrison is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Harrison without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Harrison, from the people who make the trip.
More of Harrison
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.