Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHousehold incomes in Linden are lower than in 90% of U.S. towns
1% of workers work from home (Tennessee 13%). Below the poverty line: 26.6% of residents, where Tennessee as a whole has 13.8%. For jobs and income Linden is better than 2% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (C+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Linden: the gist
Linden has far more jobs than workers
Linden has 1,183 jobs, 3.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 2,000 people are in town, 68% more than the 1,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
Linden’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Linden is Nashville, 71 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (36) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
38% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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; with 388 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Linden’s Jobs & income grade
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Linden’s grade.
Unemployment (3.8%) is left out: Linden’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Linden could be anywhere from D− to D.
A workday in Linden: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 287 residents head out to work, 101 work right here, and 1,082 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Linden on a workday afternoon, 68% more than live here.
3.0 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Linden
About 38% 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 towns that send workers to Linden
Where Linden clocks in
5% of workers
5% 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.
Making and building: 30% of jobs based in Linden
1,183 jobs are based in Linden.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Linden, 2013 → 2023: 944 → 1,183. 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 Linden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Linden: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Linden workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 376 commuters (the 1% 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.
In Linden, most people drive to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 381 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). 12.7% of Linden households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Linden’s commuters take a bus or train.
Linden next to U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 289 | Rossville TN | 1,215 | $120K | 7.3% | 6.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 631 | Orlinda TN | 1,028 | $84K | 6.4% | 3.1% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 708 | Unionville TN | 1,275 | $71K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,111 | Del Norte CO | 1,396 | $41K | 18.5% | 6.8% | 20% | D− |
| 4,112 | Culver IN | 1,256 | $43K | 36.7% | 6.8% | 18% | D− |
| 4,113 | Linden TN | 1,161 | $48K | 26.6% | 3.8% | 26% | D− |
| 4,114 | Celina TN | 1,412 | $32K | 28.0% | 22.2% | 20% | D− |
| 4,115 | Independence VA | 1,000 | $39K | 23.6% | 4.8% | 17% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Linden, 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 Linden: questions
What is the median household income in Linden?
$47,689 (±$13,677) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Linden?
26.6%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Linden?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Linden work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Nashville (9%, 71 mi), Parsons (5%, 16 mi), Hohenwald (5%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Linden walkable?
Linden is more walkable than 39% 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 Linden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Linden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Linden
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.