Photo: Garryharvey · Public domainThere are 2.0 jobs in Jackson for every working resident, and 36,494 people commute in
There are 52,337 jobs in Jackson, against 26,498 working residents. Jobs and income earn Jackson C−; getting around on foot earns it B+. Measured by household income, Jackson is behind 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Jackson: the figures worth knowing
Jackson is where the jobs are
Jackson has 52,337 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Jackson are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 26 across Tennessee. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Tennessee worker. Time on the road ↓
Jackson draws workers from far and wide
The 52,337 jobs in Jackson are filled from a wide area. Jackson’s own residents hold 30% and the ten next-biggest home towns 14%; the other 56% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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 Jackson’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jackson is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #143 of 177 in Tennessee. Job access by car holds Jackson’s grade up (ahead of 66% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (22.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jackson could be anywhere from D to C−.
How many people are in Jackson by day
On a workday 10,655 residents head out to work and 15,843 work right here.
About 95,000 people are in Jackson on a workday afternoon, 37% more than live here.
2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Getting to work from Jackson takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jackson workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26,648 commuters (the 10% 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.
Where the people who work in Jackson live
Where Jackson clocks in
7% of workers
1% 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 Jackson’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jackson, 2013 → 2023: 47,586 → 52,337. 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 Jackson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Jackson
About 23% 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 Jackson, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jackson is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns, #15 of 177 in Tennessee. Both inputs place Jackson 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 29,525 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). 11.8% of Jackson households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Jackson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Jackson and other U.S. towns of 49,000 to 94,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Franklin TN | 90,226 | $120K | 4.6% | 2.2% | 31% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Spring Hill TN | 61,336 | $112K | 4.3% | 2.1% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Collierville TN | 51,909 | $139K | 3.2% | 4.0% | 20% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 614 | Harrisburg PA | 50,522 | $48K | 30.5% | 11.4% | 20% | C− |
| 615 | Anderson IN | 56,153 | $47K | 21.0% | 7.3% | 28% | C− |
| 616 | Jackson TN | 69,339 | $53K | 22.2% | 8.1% | 60% | C− |
| 617 | Decatur IL | 67,884 | $52K | 19.4% | 8.3% | 53% | C− |
| 618 | Utica NY | 62,978 | $52K | 27.5% | 8.2% | 34% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 634 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Jackson, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
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 Jackson: questions
What is the median household income in Jackson?
$53,032 (±$2,672) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jackson?
22.2%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jackson?
18 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jackson work?
60% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Memphis (7%, 74 mi), Nashville (3%, 120 mi), Humboldt (1%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jackson walkable?
Jackson is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jackson without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jackson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jackson
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.