Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Harrogate has higher unemployment (5.8%) than 72% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 22 minutes getting to work on average; the Tennessee average is 26, the U.S. 26. Jobs and income earn Harrogate C−; getting around on foot earns it B+. About one in seven work in Harrogate; the top destination outside it is Tazewell (11%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Harrogate apart on work
Harrogate trades workers with the towns around it
Harrogate has about as many jobs (1,759) as working residents (1,512), but they are mostly different people: 1,307 residents leave for work each day while 1,554 people come in. Only 12% of the jobs in Harrogate are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Harrogate workers cross into Kentucky
22% of Harrogate workers work outside Tennessee, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Middlesborough (11%) and Pineville (2%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Harrogate is services
92% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 1% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
Inside Harrogate’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Harrogate is better than 19% of U.S. towns, #139 of 177 in Tennessee. The poverty rate holds Harrogate’s grade up (12.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Harrogate could be anywhere from D to B−.
The workday shuffle in and out of Harrogate
On a workday 1,307 residents head out to work, 205 work right here, and 1,554 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.16 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.
Where people from Harrogate work
Where Harrogate clocks in
11% of workers
11% of workers
6% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Harrogate
1,759 jobs are based in Harrogate.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Harrogate, 2013 → 2023: 1,420 → 1,759. 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 Harrogate’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Harrogate, about 22 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Harrogate workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,636 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.
How far Harrogate’s workers travel
About 28% 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 Harrogate, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Harrogate is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns, #28 of 177 in Tennessee. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.0% across Tennessee, on an EPA index of 6.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,803 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). 1.9% of Harrogate households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Harrogate’s commuters take a bus or train.
3,326th of 4,000: where Harrogate ranks among U.S. towns of 3,100 to 6,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Oak Hill TN | 4,581 | $216K | 1.2% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Forest Hills TN | 4,473 | $250K | 6.7% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 428 | Coopertown TN | 4,843 | $118K | 9.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,324 | Daleville AL | 4,971 | $45K | 16.4% | 4.9% | 13% | C− |
| 3,325 | Berwick LA | 4,455 | $52K | 18.6% | 5.2% | 7% | C− |
| 3,326 | Harrogate TN | 4,454 | $66K | 12.4% | 5.8% | 14% | C− |
| 3,327 | Comanche TX | 4,420 | $52K | 25.9% | 2.8% | 26% | C− |
| 3,328 | Avondale LA | 4,608 | $49K | 30.9% | 8.6% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,000 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Harrogate, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Harrogate and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Harrogate workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrogate | – | C− | B+ | 22 min | $65,586 |
| Cumberland Gap | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Cumberland Gap: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Harrogate’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 Harrogate: questions
What is the median household income in Harrogate?
$65,586 (±$7,572) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Harrogate?
12.4%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Harrogate?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Harrogate work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tazewell (11%, 9 mi), Middlesborough (11%, 5 mi), Knoxville (6%, 45 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Harrogate walkable?
Harrogate is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Harrogate without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Harrogate, from the people who make the trip.
More of Harrogate
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.