Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Knoxville has 2.3 jobs for every working resident: 145,124 people commute in to work
Measured by household income, Knoxville is behind 83% of U.S. towns. 185,699 jobs are based in Knoxville; 79,531 of its residents have a job. More than half work in Knoxville itself; outside it, Oak Ridge draws the most (4%, 19 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Knoxville
Knoxville is where the jobs are
Knoxville has 185,699 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 308,000 people are in town, 53% more than the 202,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Knoxville draws workers from far and wide
The 185,699 jobs in Knoxville are filled from a wide area. Knoxville’s own residents hold 22% and the ten next-biggest home towns 12%; the other 66% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Knoxville are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 26 across Tennessee. That’s about 46 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Knoxville
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Knoxville is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #94 of 177 in Tennessee. Job access by car holds Knoxville’s grade up (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (20.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Knoxville could be anywhere from C to C+.
The daily flow of workers through Knoxville
On a workday 38,956 residents head out to work and 40,575 work right here.
About 308,000 people are in Knoxville on a workday afternoon, 53% more than live here.
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 Knoxville’s workforce comes from
Where Knoxville clocks in
4% of workers
2% 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.
About 20 minutes each way, quicker than most of Tennessee
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Knoxville workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 86,321 commuters (the 13% 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.
What Knoxville’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Knoxville, 2014 → 2024: 166,316 → 185,699. 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 Knoxville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Knoxville, by distance
About 16% 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.
Knoxville is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 99,425 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 78% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 33% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 13.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% 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). 9.1% of Knoxville households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Knoxville’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Knoxville next to U.S. towns of 141,000 to 273,000: 96th of 136 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| 3 | Olathe KS | 150,025 | $114K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 25% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Murfreesboro TN | 171,178 | $80K | 8.8% | 4.3% | 27% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | Clarksville TN | 188,829 | $69K | 12.3% | 5.5% | 37% | C+ |
| 95 | Chattanooga TN | 194,144 | $65K | 19.1% | 5.4% | 67% | C+ |
| 96 | Knoxville TN | 202,021 | $54K | 20.2% | 4.5% | 51% | C+ |
| 97 | Worcester MA | 213,862 | $70K | 19.6% | 6.5% | 36% | C+ |
| 98 | Lancaster CA | 170,084 | $82K | 15.6% | 7.5% | 25% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 136 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 52% | 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 Knoxville, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
Next door to Knoxville
The biggest share goes to Alcoa (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Knoxville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knoxville | – | C+ | A | 20 min | $54,039 |
| Powell | under 2% | A | C+ | 25 min | $82,434 |
| Alcoa | 2% | B | C | 24 min | $65,714 |
| John Sevier | under 2% | C+ | D | 27 min | $46,776 |
| Farragut | 1% | A+ | B− | 22 min | $142,093 |
| Rockford | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Halls | under 2% | A− | C− | 25 min | $90,933 |
Same-state neighbors only. Rockford: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Knoxville’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 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 Knoxville: questions
What is the median household income in Knoxville?
$54,039 (±$1,606) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Knoxville?
20.2%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Knoxville?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Knoxville work?
51% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oak Ridge (4%, 19 mi), Nashville (3%, 159 mi), Alcoa (2%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Knoxville walkable?
Knoxville is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Knoxville without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 33% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Knoxville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Knoxville
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.