Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Unemployment in Jonesborough (1.7%) is lower than in 88% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 19 minutes each way; Tennessee averages 26, the U.S. 26. For jobs and income Jonesborough is better than 66% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (B). About one in ten work in Jonesborough; the top destination outside it is Johnson City (38%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Jonesborough stands out on work
Jonesborough is where the jobs are
Jonesborough has 4,270 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Jonesborough and Johnson City trade workers both ways
Johnson City is the top workplace for Jonesborough residents (38%) and also where the most people who work in Jonesborough come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Jonesborough are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 26 across Tennessee. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Tennessee worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Where Jonesborough’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Unemployment holds Jonesborough’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (11.7%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jonesborough could be anywhere from B− to A−.
How many people are in Jonesborough by day
On a workday 2,168 residents head out to work, 255 work right here, and 4,015 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,800 people are in Jonesborough on a workday afternoon, 26% more than live here.
1.8 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where the people who work in Jonesborough live
Where Jonesborough clocks in
38% of workers
10% 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.
From Jonesborough, about 19 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jonesborough workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,315 commuters (the 14% 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.
The kinds of work in Jonesborough
4,270 jobs are based in Jonesborough.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jonesborough, 2014 → 2024: 3,732 → 4,270. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Jonesborough’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Jonesborough
About 15% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Jonesborough is mostly behind the wheel
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.0% across Tennessee, on an EPA index of 6.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,702 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). 8.8% of Jonesborough households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jonesborough’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Jonesborough is 1,304th of 3,167 U.S. towns of 4,900 to 9,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 215 | Signal Mountain TN | 8,824 | $141K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 330 | Harrison TN | 8,011 | $89K | 3.9% | 1.4% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 368 | Tellico Village TN | 7,414 | $107K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,302 | Meridian CO | 5,634 | $90K | 8.8% | 5.8% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,303 | Dumbarton VA | 7,997 | $60K | 12.1% | 1.9% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,304 | Jonesborough TN | 6,990 | $74K | 11.7% | 1.7% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,305 | Napoleon Township MI | 6,706 | $74K | 7.9% | 2.3% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,306 | Newberry Township OH | 6,623 | $72K | 3.8% | 4.2% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,167 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Jonesborough, 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 2024, 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 Jonesborough: questions
What is the median household income in Jonesborough?
$74,015 (±$11,123) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jonesborough?
11.7%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jonesborough?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jonesborough work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Johnson City (38%, 6 mi), Kingsport (10%, 16 mi), Greeneville (4%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Jonesborough walkable?
Jonesborough is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jonesborough without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jonesborough, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jonesborough
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.