Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMore people are out of work in Lexington (8.3%) than in 89% of U.S. towns
About one in three stay in Lexington for work; outside it, Jackson is the main destination (19%, 26 miles). Lexington grades D for jobs and income and C for walkability. The trip to work takes 24 minutes on average; Tennessee averages 26, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Lexington apart on work
Lexington is where the jobs are
Lexington has 6,734 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 12,000 people are in town, 43% more than the 8,100 who live here. Day and night ↓
Lexington draws workers from far and wide
The 6,734 jobs in Lexington are filled from a wide area. Lexington’s own residents hold 18% and the ten next-biggest home towns 10%; the other 72% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Lexington’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lexington is Jackson, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 19% of working residents (612) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Lexington’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lexington is better than 9% of U.S. towns, #159 of 177 in Tennessee. Job access by car holds Lexington’s grade up (ahead of 33% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lexington could be anywhere from D− to C.
Who leaves Lexington for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,020 residents head out to work, 1,187 work right here, and 5,547 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Lexington on a workday afternoon, 43% more than live here.
2.1 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.
The daily trip into Lexington
Where Lexington clocks in
19% 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.
Where in the region Lexington works
About 24% 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.
The kinds of work in Lexington
6,734 jobs are based in Lexington.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lexington, 2013 → 2023: 6,528 → 6,734. 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 Lexington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 24 minutes each way for Lexington’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lexington workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,550 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.
Driving is how Lexington gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lexington is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #108 of 177 in Tennessee. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.0% across Tennessee.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,853 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). 8.5% of Lexington households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lexington’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lexington and other U.S. towns of 5,700 to 11,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 222 | Signal Mountain TN | 8,824 | $141K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 333 | Harrison TN | 8,011 | $89K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 377 | Tellico Village TN | 7,414 | $107K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,854 | Clarksville AR | 9,632 | $37K | 27.6% | 5.4% | 43% | D |
| 2,855 | Ironton OH | 10,148 | $48K | 23.7% | 6.8% | 22% | D |
| 2,856 | Lexington TN | 8,130 | $49K | 18.4% | 8.3% | 37% | D |
| 2,857 | Lanett AL | 6,781 | $42K | 19.1% | 7.3% | 7% | D |
| 2,858 | Willows CA | 6,116 | $64K | 19.3% | 8.4% | 23% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,007 | 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 Lexington, 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 Lexington: questions
What is the median household income in Lexington?
$49,057 (±$6,532) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lexington?
18.4%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lexington?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lexington work?
37% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jackson (19%, 26 mi), Memphis (6%, 97 mi), Nashville (3%, 96 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lexington walkable?
Lexington is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lexington without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lexington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lexington
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.