Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Unemployment in Kingston (8.1%) is higher than in 88% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Kingston is better than 44% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (B−). Only 8% stay in Kingston for work; outside it, Oak Ridge is the main destination (21%, 14 miles). Working residents average 27 minutes each way, where Tennessee has 26 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Kingston: the figures worth knowing
Kingston’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
The poverty rate holds Kingston’s grade up (7.1%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kingston could be anywhere from C to A−.
In Kingston, services account for most jobs
2,172 jobs are based in Kingston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kingston, 2013 → 2023: 1,983 → 2,172. 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 Kingston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Kingston for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,500 residents head out to work, 210 work right here, and 1,962 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 (0.80 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 Kingston’s working residents head each day
Where Kingston clocks in
21% of workers
16% 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.
The trip to work from Kingston: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kingston workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,104 commuters (the 11% 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 many miles Kingston commutes
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.
Getting around Kingston: mostly by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,367 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). 3.2% of Kingston households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Kingston’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Kingston ranks: 2,050th of 3,349 U.S. towns of 4,400 to 8,500
| # | 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Oak Hill TN | 4,581 | $216K | 1.2% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Forest Hills TN | 4,473 | $250K | 6.7% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 320 | Harrison TN | 8,011 | $89K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,048 | Ripon WI | 7,738 | $55K | 12.8% | 2.7% | 34% | C+ |
| 2,049 | Macon MO | 5,532 | $62K | 10.5% | 1.8% | 43% | C+ |
| 2,050 | Kingston TN | 6,299 | $72K | 7.1% | 8.1% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,051 | Kirby TX | 8,211 | $56K | 13.5% | 5.1% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,052 | Shalersville Township OH | 5,304 | $62K | 10.5% | 5.4% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,349 | 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 Kingston, 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 Kingston: questions
What is the median household income in Kingston?
$71,675 (±$14,572) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kingston?
7.1%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kingston?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kingston work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oak Ridge (21%, 14 mi), Knoxville (16%, 32 mi), Harriman (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kingston walkable?
Kingston is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kingston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kingston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kingston
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.